Slayers – Order in Chaos
by Steven P. P
Summary: Lina Inverse and Xelloss struggle with their lives and each other, while the gods and demons threaten the existence of humanity. An attempt at believable L/X romance. Chapter 5/2: Badly wounded, Lina must save Sairaag from annihilation... but how?
1. The weapon of the Great Sage

**Chapter 1. The weapon of the Great Sage**

At the rear table of an obscure village's small inn sat a girl, looking no older than twenty, merrily enjoying the feast in front of her. Tucking a strand of hair - so intense brown, it was almost red - away from her face, she devoured the mountain of food with amazing speed and precision, not letting the tiniest morsel go to waste or the smallest stain appear on her clothes. Her attire was decorated by intricate patterns of black and white, its monotony balanced by her fiery hair, brown boots and shoulder guards. Anyone with a little adventuring experience could tell that she was a sorceress in good social standing, someone who you are better off not to mess with.

The three muscular men approaching her however were either unaware of this, or paid it no mind. It did not take any kind of experience to know who _they _were just by looking at them: Their torn outfits, feral grins and the swords carried on their backs literally spelt "TROUBLE".

"Hey there, girlie!" the oldest of them, probably their leader, spoke, taking a seat next to the sorceress. "How about you share some of that food with us! It's too much for someone like you anyway!"

"Girlie…?" she repeated while chewing on a large steak, not even looking at the man "Do you have any respect for your elders? Find your own food and stop bothering me."

"Look now, someone's got an attitude," the man said with a smirk. "You don't know who I am, do you? I've got news for you, girlie: My name Tathos and I am the leader of the Scarlet Skulls. Me and my men own this town, and no one can even take a breath here without my consent."

She took a sip of her beer, looking completely unimpressed.

"And?"

Rapidly losing patience, Tathos banged his fist on the table.

"And that means you are in big trouble, you flat-chested little wench!!"

The beer pitcher dropped back to the table with a loud thud. Ever so slowly, the girl turned towards the leader of the Scarlet Skulls, who could not help but to shiver as her ruby eyes met his.

"Okay, let me make sure I heard that right. You called me a 'flat-chested little wench', did you?"

"Yeah, I did!" shouted Tathos, desperately trying to fight the unexplainable sense of dread that has gotten hold of him, and as he glanced at his men, they weren't faring too well either. "What about it?!"

"Oh nothing, really," the sorceress said. She added a smile, but that smile was anything but reassuring. "Just wanted to make sure. You know, at my age this stuff with conscience really gets to you, so I didn't want to blow you up without any kind of reason."

"What are you ta--," the man started to say, but he didn't get a chance to finish.

"FIREBALL!"

An ear-splitting explosion shook the inn. Once the smoke cleared, the patrons, still coughing, stared slack-jawed at the large crater next to the sorceress' table, where the three thugs laid completely burnt to crisp, barely twitching.

"Innkeeper, that meat on the floor is way too well done for my taste!" she called as she turned back to her food. "Get these clowns out of my sight!"

She reached for a nice looking piece of chicken, but her hand froze when she heard a voice, a voice that she knew, from behind.

"My-my, Lina-san! I would never be opposed to some spectacular display of fireworks, but wouldn't you agree that this _is_ quite counter-productive when we are supposed to have a meeting at this place?"

"What are you talking about...?" She waved dismissively towards the newcomer. "The building is still standing."

"Point taken," the man nodded, smiling. He appeared to be around the same age as the sorceress, but dressed far more soberly in priest's clothing and accessories, including a wooden staff ornamented with a jewel on top. That cheerful expression had been plastered across his face incessantly since he entered the tavern, giving him an outward show of serenity. He took an undamaged chair from a nearby table (as Tathos' was blown to pieces) and sat down in front of her.

"So, Xelloss… How did the chat, I mean, the _report_ with Zellas Metallium go?" she asked, finally grabbing hold of the chicken piece, and promptly devouring it in one bite.

"Quite well I think," the priest answered as he leaned a bit to the side to look at her around the pile of food which had been blocking his view. "It seems the main reason Juu-ou-sama summoned me was to give me a new task to perform."

"Aside of the usual one with the manuscripts?" She raised one of her eyebrows curiously.

"Correct." He nodded, leaning forward as if to share a secret plan of conspiracy "And what is more, I daresay that the mission I was given is something which you might also be interested in taking part as well."

"Considering we are talking about one of the most powerful mazoku in the world – you know, with goals like global destruction and all that, I wouldn't be so sure about it." the girl threw a half-smile in his direction, before setting her sights on a huge bowl of pasta.

"Well, I am _also_ among the most powerful mazoku, Lina-san." He matched her lopsided grin with one of his own. "And I assure you, there is no need to worry. Fulfilling this mission will be in fact highly beneficial to all the nearby towns, including this one." He gestured towards the other patrons – or at least he would have, if not for the fact that after the explosion all of them had soon departed. Even the innkeeper had disappeared somewhere into the kitchen; they were completely alone in the large room. "Oh my. It looks like they will still have difficulties accepting Lina Inverse as their savior I'm afraid."

"I've given up giving a damn about my reputation a long time ago," she grumbled, pushing the food-mountain out of the way and looking directly at the man. (It wouldn't be correct to say that she looked at him in the eye, as those appeared to be constantly closed or at least slitted.) "And, sorry, but the mazoku suddenly deciding to do something for the good of all just makes it all the more suspicious. What have you been tasked with _exactly_?"

"I have to destroy a powerful artifact located in an abandoned fortress of sorts just a couple of miles from here," he explained. "If you ask around town, you'll find that it has been giving the locals quite a few headaches recently."

"An artifact--?" she blinked, pushing the empty bowl away from her. "What kind of an artifact?"

Xelloss grinned and waggled his right index finger in a "tsk-tsk" manner.

"I'm afraid _that is a secret_!" he said, accentuating the last four words with delight. Lina slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Come on Xel, give me something to work with!" she gave a weak smile. "Don't tell me you were forbidden to tell even the most basic details!"

"No, I was not. It will simply be more fun this way I think." He opened one of his eyes, giving the impression that he was winking – his strange, catlike pupils did not reflect any light from the room. "Don't worry, you can still find out the most important things from the townsfolk. Ask around as much as you want."

The girl did not seem to be sharing his enthusiasm. While sinking her teeth into a gigantic cherry pie, she threw a flat look at the priest.

"And if I simply say _no_?"

Xelloss shrugged theatrically. "Well, that would leave me most dreadfully disappointed."

For a couple of seconds, Lina chewed on her pie eyeing the priest and looking positively annoyed.

"I might yield to the temptation of leaving you disappointed one day," she said finally.

* * *

Her name was Lina Inverse. She was 120 years old, but looked no more than twenty; or, considering her figure, even less. She was a legendary sorceress, a famous killer of bandits, and slayer of countless demons that no other human could touch; in short, a hero who had saved the world countless times. She also was an infamous adventurer, held responsible for the destruction of a considerable part of Saillune, Sairaag, Taforashia and many other parts of civilization, totaling up to an immeasurable amount of public and private property, not to mention that she was the worst nightmare of all-you-can-eat restaurant owners everywhere. She was someone people both respected and feared, although most of them didn't even know what she looked like: With her mixed reputation, her description varied greatly in the stories that spoke of her, ranging from the beautiful benevolent sorceress to the ruthless, ugly old hag - very few of these even got close to the truth.

Most of the time, such as in this occasion as well, Lina was grateful of this fact, which allowed her to question the locals as a simple adventurer looking for some coin without much fuss – although news of her little "accident" at the inn spread quickly, and she _was_ met with a certain amount of distrust.

After collecting all the rumors she could find, she left the village on a sparsely travelled road leading towards the mountains. There was Xelloss, waiting for her, leaning against a huge oak tree. He was whistling a strange old tune; she found the rhythm familiar for some reason, but couldn't place it anywhere.

"What's that song, Xel?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"Twenty Swords, an old military march; it was popular a few hundred years ago in the court of Letidius." the priest answered. "Then the country ceased to exist, and the music was forgotten – by most people, anyway." He pushed himself away from the tree, and started walking beside her. "So, did you manage to find out enough information on the artifact, Lina-san?"

"Well, sorta," the sorceress said unsurely, glancing at the sky with her hands behind her head. "According to the villagers, some 'monster' is living in the abandoned tower ten miles down the road. They say it's shooting 'strange magical rays' in random directions, which incinerate everything they touch. Already much of their crops and part of this forest have been ruined." She turned to her companion. "So someone is using that artifact, I take it? And that thing is so powerful that you feel it needs to be destroyed?"

"Almost right." Xelloss smiled. "It is, indeed, powerful enough to inconvenience us, but it most certainly cannot be controlled by anyone."

"And let me guess, the reason to that is a sec-- What was that?" Lina was sure she heard the sound of a skirmish nearby. Quickening their pace, they headed down the road in the direction of the noise. The path took a sudden turn, opening at a small clearing filled with people.

It was quite an odd sight. On the surface, it seemed to be a pretty standard robbery scene, with two dozen bandits forming a circle around a group of travelers. These travelers however, were anything but standard: An older and a younger man were leading three young women, whose hands were bound by ropes – and that did not seem to be the bandits' doing.

"Please, you have to let us through!" pleaded the older man of the pair. "We must save our village! We paid the protection money just a few days ago, so why can't you--?"

One of the bandits cut him short by shoving him into the dirt.

"Tathos kept that money for himself," he said, grinning maliciously. "So, now that he's out of the picture, you'll have to pay us, too!"

Lina decided it was better to get their attention before things got out of hand.

"So you are the ever-so-famous Scarlet Skull gang, right?" she shouted.

All eyes turned her way as approached them at a leisurely pace, Xelloss close behind her. The ruffians quickly overcame their initial surprise and adjusted the circle to include the newcomers.

_They are well trained_, Lina thought,_ I have to give them that. _

"And you're the one who fried our boss?" Another bandit snickered. "We really hated that guy, you know."

"Then all is well, isn't it?" Xelloss asked in a friendly tone.

"Not yet. We'd like to show you how much we appreciate what you did" He laughed at his own joke, the others quickly joining him. "And the village elder and his son too, as they were probably the ones who hired you."

The circle gradually started to shrink.

"Oh my, it would seem that we are completely surrounded, Lina-san," the mazoku said with a smirk. "What should we do now, I wonder?"

"Hmm… How about this?" Lina put her hands in front of her and started chanting in a low voice "_Spirits who dwell in the Earth, as thy words of pledge, obey my will and be my power…_"

„You can't cast such a spell this close! You'll blow yourself up too!" yelled the first bandit. "You're bluffing!"

"Am I?" Lina shouted, her evil grin easily putting the bandits' to shame. Magic power crackled between her fingertips for a moment. "Only one way to find out!" She slammed both of her hands to the ground, crying out, "DILL BRAND!"

The earth trembled around them, and then shot directly upwards, blasting the ruffians to the sky. There was a small circle around Lina however, which remained unaffected, leaving her companion, the two men and the young maidens unhurt.

The old man slowly stood up, staring at the sorceress incredulously.

"Young lady, thank you for helping us, but… how did you do that? I also studied magic a little when I was younger, and the Dill Brand doesn't work that way."

"Ah, it was nothing, I just tweaked it a little." she waved her hands in front of her. "I simply inverted the spell's area of effect on the fly, so it hit the bandits instead of us. Pretty basic stuff."

"She was the one who dealt with Tathos at the inn, too," the younger man said, his eyes widening. "You're not… Lina Inverse, are you?"

Xelloss opened his mouth to answer, but the sorceress was faster.

"N-No, of course not!" she laughed sheepishly. "I'm just your average adventurer who knows a thing or two about magic. Why would you think such a thing?"

"That's a shame." the old man hung his head, looking defeated. "You're a talented little lady, but only someone as powerful as her could help us now… It seems we have to go through with our original plan of sacrificing these girls to the monster after all--"

"You-- What??!" Lina yelled, her eyes growing to an unnatural size.

"We have to do it-- for the villages!" sniffed one of the girls.

"Even though we cannot even imagine what horrors will await us at the hands of that hideous monster!" cried another. "Oh, the tragedy!"

"Quite fascinating," murmured Xelloss. "I didn't know such rituals were still being performed in the lands inside the former barrier nowadays."

"That's not the point! And would the mourning choir shut up?!" Lina retrieved a pink slipper from her person (where she stored that seemed to be a mystery) and pounded the old man on the head. He slumped to the ground at her feet. The sudden silence that reigned was simply deafening.

"Are you all nuts?! You guys never saw that monster; you don't even know what it is! And you randomly decide to sacrifice people to it? From where did you get that godforsaken idea??"

"It's… written in this book." the village elder, now remaining on the ground just to be safe, handed over a small booklet, opened around the middle. The sorceress studied it skeptically for a moment, but then shrugged and started reading:

_Solution 5.  
If the previous strategies were unsuccessful in dealing with the monster, there is always the possibility of negotiation. A few young maidens, presented as a sacrifice with hands bound, are often a successful way to ensure that your town will be left alone by the creature – for a limited time, at least. Of course, if you permanently wish to be rid of such a monster, you have to hire a really talented sorceress for the job, such as myself. Oohohohoho!!_

"Good riddance. Why would an author write down something like _that_?" She gazed wide eyed at the last sentence. "And you tried the other four solutions before too? For being the village elder, you really aren't the smart one if you fell for such an obvious swindle."

"I'll have you know that we started with the fifth solution because the others were much worse!" the old man, unsurprisingly, took a bit of offense at the last comment "Of course well-off youngsters like you could not understand! I know this book is primarily about the writer advertising her services, but we don't have any options! The one who wrote this is already dead, and the person she mentions, her greatest rival, Lina Inverse, is not the kind of person to visit a place this off the map!"

"Greatest rival…? Who is this--" Lina closed the book, looking at the cover page "--guy?"

_**How To Deal With Hideous Monsters Threatening Y**__**our Peaceful Town  
**__Written by Her Royal Majesty __**Gracia Ul Naga Saillune **__the White Serpent __and genius sorceress,  
Lina Inverse's greatest rival_

Lina's mouth opened, and then slowly closed. She gazed at the cover for a while, her eyes reflecting a strange mixture of sadness and nostalgia, before handing the book back to the village elder.

"Take the girls back to their homes and leave the rest to me," she said in a low voice, turning away from the villagers, her eyes meeting her companion's – and then she glanced back, the hint of a smile reappearing on her lips. "It won't be for free of course! And _I'll_ have _you _know that I was already fighting mazoku lords when you were just a little baby who couldn't even say his own name, _youngster_. Let's go Xelloss!"

The two quickly left the clearing without another word, disappearing from view as the road took another turn.

The village elder looked at his son, his mouth agape.

"She really _is_ Lina Inverse!" he whispered in awe.

* * *

His full name and title was Xelloss, the Priest. Over one thousand years old, he was the best servant of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium and also the fifth most powerful mazoku in existence. His name was well known among gods and demons alike, but not to the general populace. To the casual observer, from his attire and demeanor he looked little more than a young priest of some uncommon religion with a penchant of keeping secrets, and playing tricks on those foolish enough to listen to the half-truths he did reveal.

Lina got more and more certain that they have just stumbled upon yet another thing connected to those half-truths as they drew closer to the tower. The forest itself was getting strange for awhile now: Many of the trees grew from the ground absolutely vertically, with their branches perfectly horizontal, not a single curve or flaw to break the strict symmetry. Everything was in rigid, unquestionable order.

But even more arresting was the glowing yellow stream of light that crossed the road just ahead of them, its ends vanishing into the forest. Its golden fabric was continuously in motion, twisting, pulsating as if it were alive.

"Any information you'd like to share with me, Xelloss?" She glanced suspiciously at her companion.

"To tell the truth, I am just as much at loss of what this might be as you are, Lina-san," he answered, the same indecipherable smile glued to his face as usual.

"Well, whatever it is, we might get a better view from above. RAY WING!" she exclaimed, taking to the skies. The priest followed without delay – as a demon he did not need a spell to fly, after all.

Lina rose well above the treetops to look around before dispelling the wind barrier and switching to a more easily manageable Levitation spell. Finding the tower wasn't a problem – it was an ancient, crumbling stone structure around ten stories high and about half as wide. She did not pay much attention to it however, her eyes darting across the forest below instead.

Those streams of light were everywhere. They enmeshed the forest, but not at all randomly: Together they formed an intricate, circular pattern, looking exactly like--

"A symbol of holy magic," she whispered. "And a really big one, too."

"Now this is most unfortunate." Xelloss clicked his tongue; for him, that was a sign of slight frustration.

For a short moment, Lina felt confused, before things clicked into place in her head.

"Oh, I get it. If this symbol works similarly to the white magic seal of Saillune City, then non-holy magic, including your powers will be gradually weakened as we approach the tower."

"Worse, I'm afraid," the mazoku said with a sigh. "This type of a seal was designed specifically against black magic. Once we enter it, I fear my abilities may not only become limited, but also somewhat…" he hesitated over the right word then added, "…unreliable."

"But this symbol is way smaller than Saillune's," Lina murmured, thinking as she spoke. "It seems it is not simply static, but also actively powered by some kind of outside force, probably from inside that tower."

"Exactly." the priest nodded, still smiling, but his tone remarkably serious. "And we are talking about more power than dozens of the strongest holy spells combined."

"Xelloss, I really don't like where this is going." The sorceress glared at him with her hands on her hips. "You cannot possibly expect me to just stand idly by, not to mention possibly lend a helping spell or two, while you take down something which is likely one of the most powerful artifacts in this world belonging to the gods!"

"Of course, I would never involve you in something like that." The mazoku raised his right hand in an apologetic gesture, evoking a disbelieving snort from the girl. "But I believe you will eventually realize that destroying it _is_ the right thing to do in this situation."

"Hmph. We'll see about that!" she huffed as the wind barrier reappeared around her and she blasted off in the direction of the tower.

She didn't fly more than a few hundred feet, however, when her entire sphere of vision suddenly became filled with gold.

_That thing shot something at __me! _

She instinctively altered her course, but quickly realized that she would not be able to avoid the beam speeding directly at her. Extending both of her arms to form an extra layer of wind shielding in front of her, she braced herself for the impact.

"That's not going to cut it, Lina-san," Xelloss' voice sounded from behind her as a hand touched her shoulder. For the briefest moment, she felt as if her body ceased to exist.

The next instant, she and the mazoku priest were floating several hundred feet away from where they were previously. Lina swallowed hard. The part of the forest where they had been hovering just moments ago was completely annihilated. There weren't even stumps left from the trees – everything was vaporized -- entirely.

"Thanks Xel," the sorceress breathed. "It looks like we aren't too welcome here - and if that blast was any indication, whoever is in that tower has got one insanely powerful artifact."

The priest put one of his hands behind his head, smiling nervously.

"You might find this odd, but I believe this wasn't intentional, and what we've just seen was nowhere near the relic's true power."

"No way!" Lina shook her head in disbelief. "What do you mean _that_ wasn't its true power--?"

"I'll explain once we get inside the tower. I think we'll be safer there." Xelloss put his hand around the sorceress' waist, a few long moments passed-- and nothing happened.

"… Xel?" Lina blinked, her cheeks becoming the tiniest bit flushed at the prolonged intimate contact.

"I…I'm doing what I am supposed to do, Lina-san." The mazoku, for the first time today, looked unsure, confused even. "But it's simply not working."

"I can see that." She smirked, putting her own hand around Xelloss' waist, and chanting a Ray Wing spell under her breath. "Let's go the old fashioned way while you sort things out, okay?"

Lina put as much power behind her spell as she could, and they took off towards the ancient looking structure once again.

* * *

"DAMU BRASS!"

The spell blew a door-sized hole into the wall, through which Lina and Xelloss flew inside the tower somewhere around the middle – or more precisely fell, because the sorceress had to end the magic keeping them afloat just before she could cast the one which made the opening. This proved to be problematic, since they quickly noticed that there was no floor directly under them: The closest stone surface was barely visible in the gloom somewhere way below; it looked like the entire tower was hollow on the inside.

After a few seconds of violent cursing and free-fall, Lina managed to cast a Levitation spell just in time to keep them from a painful meeting with the aforementioned floor. She slumped to the ground, trying to catch her breath.

When she looked up, Xelloss was already on his feet examining their surroundings. She also took a moment to take in the view around them: The tower was mostly empty, with an enormous and steep stairway leading up to the top, where she caught a glimpse of golden light. The walls and the sides of the stairway, decorated with ancient runes and odd drawings of dragons, elves and humans, reminded her of the ones seen at the "Dragon Express" they used by accident many years ago, when they were travelling with Filia towards Flarelord's temple. In the dim light, the shadows made the figures appear strangely malevolent and ominous, as if they were greatly disapproving of their presence.

_With Xelloss here_, she thought, _that_ _would not be a surprise._

Extending his hand and helping the sorceress back on her feet, the priest allowed himself a blatantly insincere smile.

"Regrettably, it's even worse than I expected." He looked at his staff, as if its existence would illustrate his point. "No amount of my power seems to be suppressed, and still, sometimes when I do try to use it, it suddenly feels like it isn't there at all." He turned back to the sorceress. "I can now see why Zellas-sama requested me to personally deal with this matter; it will most certainly be harder than we initially assumed."

"We?" Lina snickered. "I could swear I heard something about 'not telling you anything because it's more fun that way'."

"Well, I will attempt to answer your questions _now_, if you'd like." Xelloss said cheerfully without a hint of regret in his voice, as he took the sorceress' hand and led her towards the stairs.

"Better late than never," murmured Lina. She groaned as she began to climb: The stairs were ridiculously steep - one step was almost up to the third of her height. "So… first of all… what the heck… is this place…?"

"As you might remember, in the War of the Monster's Fall, before Ruby Eye-sama's shard awakened in Lei Magnus, Hellmaster-sama had sent a giant horde of lesser demons as a diversion, in order to keep the dragons and their allies occupied while he and the other four retainers of Shabranigdu-sama attempted to weaken the Aqualord's power." The priest explained, looking unaffected by the steep stairs – of course, he was a mazoku and also considerably taller. "It was around that time when the dragons and elves formed an alliance with the humans, and they fought our army together. This structure is a reminder of that alliance, a weapon created by the three races to destroy many lower class mazoku in one devastating attack."

"That sounds… interesting…" the sorceress was now panting heavily.

"It is, indeed." Xelloss nodded. "The basic idea is simple enough: The weapon focuses the power of the shinzoku, accumulating the magic energies for an extended period of time, like a person with near infinite capacity, casting a single holy spell for several days."

"Days--?" Lina echoed breathlessly, in all meanings of the word. "The amount of power it can gather… that's incredible!"

"Naturally, creating such a powerful, complicated combination of sorcery was by no means an easy task. Only four devices were made, each by different sorcerers, the best of their fields at that time." the priest gestured around them. "The other three were destroyed during the war, but until recently, we didn't even know this one existed. These lands weren't too involved in the conflict, so maybe it wasn't ever used. And after the war it became defunct, not to mention undetectable as its power source, holy magic, could no longer be accessed." He paused to smile at Lina. "Of course, there were certain events a hundred years ago, which changed this fact."

"What took you so long… to find it then…?"

"We didn't become aware of it because it wasn't active-- until now. As for the reason, your guess is as good as mine. " Xelloss glanced up towards the golden light, which seemed to be getting brighter and brighter with their approach.

Lina on the other hand, was getting too tired to even raise her head; she slumped down on one of the stairs, exhausted.

"Next question then," she muttered. "Why on earth do you want us to climb this damned thing when we could just fly up to the top? And if you say it's more fun this way, you'll regret it!"

"I would rather not use magic without good reason this close to the artifact." Xelloss stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You see, Lina-san, as I said, these devices required days to be fully charged – but this one has been gathering energy for weeks at the very least. It could theoretically be overloaded any moment now."

Exhaustion vanished from her eyes, Lina stared at the priest alarmed.

"Which means it'll explode?"

She didn't want to even guess the scale of destruction such a large amount of magic power being unleashed all at once would cause. Unfortunately, it looked like Xelloss had already done the calculations for her.

"I'm afraid so," he said, his smile deepening in a sickening way, "And in that case, I think we can say our goodbyes to the better part of this colorful peninsula."

The priest was probably expecting some kind of a reaction to that from her - but instead, she just kept staring at him, causing his confidence to drop instantaneously.

"Uhm, Lina-san?"

"Let me get this straight," the sorceress said with a deep sigh, barely suppressed anger lingering in her voice, "we were waltzing around messing with bandits and idiotic villagers while this doomsday-machine was out there threatening to blow up any second??"

"Well, it's not that bad," Xelloss added quickly. "We probably would have felt something, such as an earthquake, before, if the explosion was indeed that imminent… And, ehm… I thought it would be more fun this-- Hey!" the priest suddenly found himself losing his balance and falling down the stairs into the darkness below.

"Lina-san, that wasn't niiiiiiiice--!" his yell was accompanied by several yelps and finally a painful sounding thud as he arrived back on the tower's floor.

"See you at the top, Xel!" The sorceress stuck her tongue out, and started climbing with renewed vigor.

* * *

To say that the visibility on the top of the tower was different would be quite the understatement. Lina had the shield her eyes, until they adjusted to the almost blinding light emanating from a small altar – dedicated to Ceiphied, if she had to guess from the runes – before her. After a while she could also make out the exact source; a small sphere, roughly the size of her palm, hovering a few inches above the altar's surface. She carefully edged closer; while uncomfortably bright, as she gazed into the light she still felt strangely at peace…

"The epitome of beauty in simplicity, right?" Xelloss' cheerful voice reached her ears. It did not come from anywhere in particular, or to be more precise, it came from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"How did you get up here so fast?" asked Lina, still slowly advancing towards the light; she didn't even have to pay attention, her legs moved almost by themselves. "You said that casting spells here is dangerous!"

"But I did not cast anything." The priest's voice sounded amused. "In fact, I'm actually using less magic power at the moment, having dismissed my physical form. And the best part of travelling on the Astral Plane: No gravity and therefore no need for stairs. You should really try it out once, Lina-san." He chuckled a moment, before his tone became a tad more serious, "In any case, I would advise against getting too close to the altar. Someone already tried that, it seems, and I think the results are anything but encouraging."

The sorceress was about to ask what he meant, when she noticed the vague shadow on the ground in front of her. To her shock, upon closer inspection she discovered that it wasn't a real shadow, but a blurred outline of what remained of a poor soul who had been literally burned _into_ the stone floor.

"Gaah!" she screamed as she leaped away from the altar and the nasty image on the ground.

The light, she now realized, had a kind of a hypnotic effect on her. According to some researchers, very high concentrations of black magic energy caused all those nearby to experience feelings of restlessness, a need to act, something which she also vaguely felt on occasion when casting the Dragon Slave. Holy magic, it seemed, had the opposite effect on people.

"I didn't know I was so attracted to rest and relaxation--" she let out a small laugh, but it was drowned out by a deafening noise resembling a thunderclap.

The sphere pulsed, creating a shockwave that easily pushed Lina off her feet. For a moment, its light was magnified a hundred fold, its radiance eating its way through even her clenched eyelids – and then it was gone.

As she opened her eyes and glanced up, for a moment she could see the trail of a huge beam of golden light passing through the ceiling unobstructed. Xelloss, back in his human form, crouched above her with his staff held in a defensive posture. A smile tugged her lips.

"Don't worry Xel, we're safe for now," she said. The sphere still glowed brightly, but far less intensively than moments ago. She sat up, rubbing her head where it got introduced to the floor. "You were right, the beam from before wasn't directed at us, the relic just tried to get rid of some of the excess energy, like it did now."

"I am not worried. It is simply a fact that this beam was noticeably more powerful than the first." the priest commented, attempting to sound unconcerned but still looking to be ill at ease as he straightened and tried to dust off his clothes – not that they had any dust on them. "We better finish this quickly."

"I guess you're right." Lina moved to get up herself, when her gloved hand brushed something light on the floor. "What's this?"

She picked up a piece of paper, looking to be part of a much larger page with the rest of it burned away; probably the former possession of the man who met his gruesome fate here. The sorceress quickly recognized the writing: Spell summaries, mostly the Chaos Words belonging to them – much of the text and the diagrams were missing, but she could still easily identify all three of the incantations: The Dragon Slave, the Blast Bomb and the activation spell of the Demon's Blood Talismans.

"What could the guy want with these?" she wondered out loud. "The talismans no longer exist anyway. Xelloss, did you give them to anyone else before you sold them to me?"

"No, I most certainly did not." the priest took a quick glance at the piece of paper. "But the activation spell _was_ present in certain old grimoires. Whoever this person was, he put quite a bit of research behind whatever he tried to do. You think this might be important?"

"My gut feeling tells me that whatever this was used for had a lot to do with the artifact suddenly becoming active." Lina eyed the text suspiciously, then winked at the mazoku "But whether that's important or not depends a lot on how good your plan of getting rid of this thing is."

"The sphere is the most vulnerable when it has just discharged an amount of its power by shooting another beam." Xelloss explained. "When the next such moment arrives, we'll gather all the black magic energy we can and release it upon the artifact."

"I don't know…" The sorceress scratched her head unsurely. "That sounds almost too simple to work."

"I assure you it won't be." the priest held up his left index finger in a gesture to summon her attention. "Remember the magic seal's effects; we'll be having a hard time focusing these energies quickly in only a few seconds time." He glanced at the altar; the emanating light was nearing the same level it was when they've arrived "Speaking of which, I think we'd better take cover."

There weren't many things they could hide behind, so they resorted to ducking to the ground, Xelloss raising his staff a little in preparation for launching a bolt of energy, and Lina making sure that both of her hands could move freely as she cast her spell.

The deafening crack shook the tower once again, echoing between the walls endlessly as the radiance reached brutal levels. Trying to shield her eyes and maintain her concentration, Lina purposely looked the other way and started chanting her spell. She had to be quick; she could only utter the Chaos Words mentally, which was hard in itself - but then the difficulty Xelloss spoke of kicked in.

When her mind reached out to channel Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, his power slipped out of its grasp again and again. Lina gritted her teeth.

_That __ball won't be beating me so easily!_

She started the chant once more, and as she felt the artifact's light dimming, she wrestled the spell under control. She looked at Xelloss, and the two of them nodded in quiet understanding.

"DRAGON SLAVE!"

The crimson beam from her hands united with the pitch black mass of energy emanating from his staff, the result smashed against the altar -- and disappeared without a trace.

If Lina didn't know better, she would've thought that Xelloss looked quite upset as he ran to the altar.

"It's sealed off from the astral side!" he whispered incredulously. "But how could that stay hidden from my senses for so long--?"

"Ehm, Xel? Y-You might want to look above you," the sorceress stammered.

A face of a man, looking no older than thirty, with long black hair and dark red eyes appeared out of thin air above the altar, looking at them with a stern, if a bit amused expression.

And if that wasn't surprising enough, as the mazoku noticed the illusion, he staggered a few steps back and promptly fell to his knees.

"My… my lord--??" he managed to spit out.

A shocking realization dawned upon Lina. She matched the vision to the few illustrations she saw in ancient history books and put that together with what Xelloss just said. This man had to be no other than…

"Lei Magnus?!"

"It seems that my fears were justified. Those two-faced gods and their useless dragon servants were unable to keep you mazoku scum from reaching this place." The legendary sorcerer's raspy but still oddly gentle voice reverberated through the tower. "You'll probably find a way to break my astral shielding on the weapon sooner or later, so allow me to do that for you." His face twisted into a sardonic smile. "I should warn you though that this very same shield was keeping the holy energies from breaking loose. And before you consider fleeing, know that I activated a second shield around the tower to keep both the explosion and you contained; you won't have enough time to neutralize it. So enjoy the few moments you have left; may we meet each other again in hell."

The visage of Lei Magnus disappeared as quickly as it came. Things did not remain still for long, however; the entire tower began to shake, as the sphere now rhythmically started pulsating, becoming brighter and brighter each time. Unable to stay on her feet any longer, Lina was forced to cast a Levitation spell, hovering a few feet above the altar.

"Quite a predicament we are in, I must say." Xelloss quickly followed suit, ascending to float beside her. "But I guess we shouldn't expect anything less from the legendary bearer of Ruby Eye-sama. To think that he was on the side of the gods for a while!"

"How much time do you think we have left before it blows up?" Lina asked, avoiding a falling piece of debris; the old structure had quite a few loose stones to spare.

"The time it takes the artifact to gather enough energy to fire another blast again, I think. Unfortunately, it looks like the astral shielding is only breaking down gradually, so we still cannot neutralize it with black magic until it's too late." He threw a playful grin at the sorceress, adding, "Although I think you have something different in mind, correct?"

"There is one thing we can still try," she said with a sharp nod, staring intently at the ground below. Cracks began to appear in the altar and the stairs; it was only a matter of time before everything collapsed.

"Fusion magic," she asserted. "It can ignore a barrier like that, and can dispel the accumulated holy power- _if_ we manage to pull it off. The human language versions of those spells are still a bit unstable, but I think I can manage to cast Flame Bless while you let loose your black bolts of doom again."

"And I also shouldn't have expected anything less from the legendary Demon Slayer!" Xelloss' grin widened. "This _could_ work, Lina-san, but we should not take any chances. Allow me to cast the holy spell while you chant another Dragon Slave."

"_You_ want to cast holy magic--?!" Lina stared at him, aghast.

"We cannot afford you to miscast it, and I do speak the language of the golden dragons fluently," the priest explained, eliciting and angry huff from the girl. "We have no time to argue, please prepare yourself."

Xelloss started chanting in a low voice, his posture and clear, punctual articulation actually reminding the sorceress of Filia – it was an unnatural sight, really.

„_Anaku soro'mu,_ _nazak'u sakriim…_ CHAOTIC DISINTEGRATE!"

A golden ring of light appeared before the priest's outstretched hands; however, it quickly became distorted, and a moment later it was sucked into the sphere below.

Xelloss' levitation magic gave away, and Lina just managed to catch him by his cloak before he plummeted down.

"Well, that was a rather excellent display of pointlessness," the mazoku said with a weak smile. "The artifact absorbs all holy energy around it; we cannot summon such power here at all."

"Just as I expected," Lina nodded, her expression grave.

"Y-You knew this would happen??" Now it was the priest's turn to stare at the sorceress.

"Let's just say I had my suspicions, but I needed to make sure--" Lina stopped in mid-sentence, noticing Xelloss' expression, which almost looked hurt. "What? It was you who wanted to cast it so badly by yourself!"

"Be as it may," the priest muttered, "the building is falling apart, the sphere is about to explode, I just made a nice big hole on my astral body for no good reason by using that spell, and it looks like we are out of ideas. I advise we concentrate our efforts on bypassing the shield around the tower, and make a quick exit before the situation becomes any more problematic."

"No, that's the one thing we _can't_ do!" snapped the sorceress. "Remember what Lei said? That shield is the only thing keeping the relic from leveling the country! We just have to use something else as a source of holy power. Say, Xel, can you stay afloat by yourself?"

"Of course, the previous accident was just a momentary complication, that's all." Xelloss levitated out of the sorceress' grasp, still looking a bit offended. "What do you mean by 'another source'?"

"The most obvious one of course!" Lina smirked, pointing at the artifact. "You see Xel, I don't think that guy died just because he went too close to it; he actually attempted to _control_ it with the help of the spells we saw on that piece of paper."

"An attempt which was destined to fail," muttered the priest, unsure about what to make of her words. "After all, nothing is known about the form of magic that is supposed to control this weapon."

"Are you sure?" Lina looked confidently at the mazoku. "Tell me, the composer of that old song, Twenty Swords, it was Fiorena the Gold, right?"

The priest nodded slowly, now looking entirely lost.

"The song didn't vanish completely: I now remember reading about it in one of her spell books." As she spoke, Lina descended towards the altar, now lying in several on the crumbling stone platform. "When she invented the spell Raza Clover, she noticed that she unintentionally used its rhythm as a base for the Chaos Words. And if you look at her other, less famous spells, there is something similar to all of them when it comes to pacing. Like musicians, all sorcerers have a kind of a personal style, which is present in all of their works, and I think I know the style of Lei Magnus pretty well; after all, I did rewrite his most famous spell once. I also know the basics of holy magic incantations--"

Her voice was blocked out by a great roar as the structure of the tower's interior finally gave away, and the altar, the stairs, and nearly everything else disappeared in the mixture of darkness and dust below them. All that remained was the rapidly pulsating sphere, now merely a few inches away from the sorceress' hands.

"Lina-san, are you serious?! " Xelloss tried to block her way, but a large falling boulder forced him to move back. "You want to try reconstructing the spell from scratch? You think that is actually possible??"

"I don't know," Lina said, shooting a glance back at him, her eyes glittering with excitement, "but it sure sounds fun!"

Without further discussion, Lina extended her right hand and closed her eyes. She touched the surface of the sphere.

She immediately sensed a certain impulse, a tug, for the lack of a better word, which told her that the artifact was aware of her presence and was awaiting her commands. The feeling was familiar – she recognized it as very similar to what the Demon's Blood Talismans sent her when she reached out with her mind to use them.

_And if the two are alike, they __probably work somewhat alike too. _

She started chanting, her voice barely a whisper:

"_Four lords of light in this world…_"

She felt the tug strengthen, as if she had piqued the sphere's interest.

_So far so good._

In the talismans' activation spell here came the part where she testified her allegiance to the powers she called on for aid, but that was far early to do here, she thought. She had to call forth and control all of the artifact's energies first by describing its owners in a lot more detail. Holy invocations sped through before her mind's eye; she searched for something Lei Magnus could possibly use.

"…_holy dragons of strength…" _

It was no mere tug now; she felt herself being pulled into a realm of seemingly endless light and energy – the amount of power she felt was simply intoxicating. Lina smirked in satisfaction.

_Oh yes, I knew Lei would __appreciate strength. Now just a little more…_

"…_gods of purity_…"

She immediately sensed something was wrong, the link between her and the sphere suddenly felt like a spring stretched too long, threatening to snap any moment.

_But why? The gods are mentioned as pure all the time! _

Realization hit her just as quickly: Lei Magnus called the gods "two-faced". He might have sided with them, but not believed in their goodwill, perhaps seeing them more as--

"…_protectors of order and creation!_"

The link slowly recovered, and she felt that all the power in the artifact was now reacting to her will. In a certain sense, only now was she holding the sphere in her hands in its entirety.

_Now or never__!_

"_I pledge myself to the cause of the light, to see my enemies fall before me!_"

She felt the relic's might flowing into her body like a river of golden flame, both ecstatic and painful at the same time.

"_Let thy strength unite with mine, and together we shall pass judgment upon them all!"_

She thrust her empty left hand up into the air, and even though her eyes were still clenched shut, she could almost see the energy flowing through it, taking a physical form--

"Xelloss, give me your power _now_!" she yelled. After a second, a gloved hand slid into hers, and the energies coming from the two fused together into one single entity.

Lina opened her eyes. Smiling tiredly, she took one last look at the weapon of the Great Sage, slammed her left hand into the sphere – and the world around her exploded into nothingness.

* * *

"_Hey Lina, you should really wake up."_

"Nmmh… Just five more minutes, Gourry…"

"_Okay, but I can already hear the clattering of plates from the kitchen.__ If you're late, it's your loss."_

Only the sound of clattering plates filled her head.

"Food!" Lina suddenly bolted up in bed – then hissed painfully and slowly lay back down, wincing several times along the way. It slowly occurred to her that more than half of her body was covered in bandages.

"Take it easy, Lina-san." Xelloss was sitting beside her bed, smiling widely. His staff was propped against the wall behind him; they somehow got back to the inn room she was renting at the village. "A priest healed you, but it will take at least another hour for the Resurrection spell to close all of your wounds. You really managed to push yourself to the brink of death this time."

"It's all in a day's work," chuckled the sorceress, finding out much to her chagrin that even that hurt. "It worked then, huh? Are the villages still in one piece?"

"The resulting explosion utterly destroyed most of the forest, but the nearby towns remain intact." The mazoku glanced out the window behind Lina's bed. For this village in particular, it had been quite a close call: The inn stood at its edge, unharmed, but the trees on the other side of the road were reduced to smoking, black skeletons. Xelloss let her discover this particular detail on her own though, preferably when he wasn't around – in case the sorceress decided that this was all his fault, which wasn't entirely false.

He turned away from the window and stood up, stepping closer to the bed.

"You were magnificent as always, Lina-san." The sorceress felt his hand, warm even under the gloves, touching her cheek. Ignoring the pain, she raised her own hand and put it upon his.

"Compliments like these mean you need to go, right?" she asked softly.

"I'm afraid so," Xelloss admitted, "I need to report to Juu-ou-sama that my task has been completed. I am certain she will be most pleased." He put his free hand behind his head in a familiar, nervous gesture. "Although I guess knowing that will not give _you_ any warm fuzzy feelings."

"Nah, for once I have to agree with her; that thing was really better off destroyed. Although," the sorceress made a face, "the Sorcerer's Guild would have paid so much gold for it that I could have bought out the entire Kingdom of Saillune along with those clowns on the throne… Aw, drat."

"Some things are beyond even your ability to control, Lina-san." The priest grinned, one of his eyes open, almost daring her to say otherwise.

The sorceress matched his impish grin with one her own, and replied promptly, "Sorry to burst your bubble, Xel, but I _was_ in full control of that sphere. I could have made it shoot its accumulated energy into the sky, and with a bit of tinkering after that it would have been as good as new."

The mazoku opened his mouth to say something smart, but no sound came out. He just stared at her, looking completely dumbstruck.

"…T-Then why didn't you do it?" he finally managed to say.

"Because neither I nor this world needs another quick way to bring forth the apocalypse should it fall into the wrong hands. The Giga Slave is enough, thank you very much."

The priest's face remained blank; it took him a few seconds to digest this information. When he looked into her eyes again, his smile went crooked and his expression was almost one of defeat.

"Quite the achievement - after all these years you still manage to surprise me," he said musingly, and leaned down, his face inches away from hers. "But don't think I cannot do the same in return…" and with that, he kissed her softly on the lips.

As she returned the kiss, Lina felt her mind slowly getting muddled, her thoughts slipping from her grasp, and it wasn't just the kiss, she realized. With the touch of their lips, Xelloss had cast a Sleeping spell on her. Instinctively, the Chaos Words of the counter-spell flashed through her mind -- then faded away. She really _could_ use some more sleep, she was feeling so tired…

Lina slowly closed her eyes and let the world of dreams claim her.

* * *

Xelloss wanted to teleport away to Wolf Pack Island somewhere outside the inn; many people saw him coming in, so if he just disappeared it would have definitely raised some suspicions.

Certain people would not let him leave so easily, however. As he stepped out the establishment's door, he found himself surrounded by an angry mob – some looked a bit scorched, others seemed to have eaten an amount of dirt in the recent past, but the murderous intent in their eyes as they glared at the priest was all the same.

"My-my, it looks like the Scarlet Skulls are back with a vengeance!" Xelloss gave them a condescending smile, which did little to lighten their mood.

"Out of the way, priest!" growled an especially well-done looking Tathos, raising his greatsword threateningly. "We'll deal with you later, but right now we have some business with that wench!"

"I'm afraid that is not possible at the moment, as she is currently resting. You may want to check back in a little while." The mazoku addressed the men as if they were tourists trying to enter a museum before opening hours.

The bandit leader grabbed Xelloss by his cloak and lifted him a foot into the air.

"Do you really want us to kill you so badly?!" he sneered.

The priest's smile only widened.

"You are welcome to try," he said, a tiny but clearly noticeable amount of coldness creeping into his voice, "but I think I should warn you that you will find Lina-san's methods almost… gentle, compared to my own."

Tathos was never a man of patience (or wit), and one of the things he hated most was when he and his threats were completely ignored – thus, he made the same mistake again, for the second, and last time that day. Letting out an enraged roar, he dropped the priest back to the ground, and swung his sword at him with all his might.

Xelloss' eyes opened, his ominous, soulless pupils regarding the bandit leader with something akin to both amusement and cruelty for the slightest moment; then he made a small flick with his left hand.

That was the last thing Tathos saw.

No one ever heard of the Scarlet Skulls again.

* * *

Naturally, no sleeping spell in the world could keep Lina Inverse in bed for long, especially if she was hungry, and the noises of the inn's kitchen were penetrating her room and her ears.

She moved slowly and with great care (wincing ever so often), as she climbed out of bed. She found that most of her bandages could now be removed; the Resurrection spell was almost finished with its work. Getting her black and white sorceress attire back on to make herself at least somewhat presentable, she limped out of the room, only to bump right into the village elder at the door.

"Lina Inverse-sama! I am so glad you are awake!" the old man greeted her, looking ecstatic. "It was as the book said! You have saved us all!"

"Well, I don't really know about that book, but I guess I did," murmured Lina, her hands behind her head. "So, while we are on the subject, how about some nice big reward for my efforts?" she added, now sounding a lot more enthusiastic.

"The villages don't have much money, but hopefully you will still find our reward satisfying." The old man gestured towards the kitchen. "The best local cooks are making their tastiest dishes just for you! You can eat as much as you want!"

"The best dishes… as much… as I want…?" She stared at him with eyes the size of dinner plates, a little drip of saliva hanging from her mouth, before jumping into the air, injuries entirely forgotten. "Now you're talking! I'm there right this instant!" She paused in place instead of running towards the kitchen, and turned back to the village elder. "Oh, by the way, do you know where the local priest is right now?"

"The priest?" the old man echoed.

"Yeah, I ought to thank the guy for patching me up. Without him I would have missed this nice meal, and that would've been just sad," she added jokingly.

"I-I am truly sorry Lina-sama, but I don't know what you are talking about," the village elder said, looking perplexed. "This really is a backwater region. We haven't seen a priest of the gods with such healing powers for months."

Silence reigned for a few seconds. Lina blinked once, twice - and smiled as she finally understood.

"Oh, it's nothing then," she said softly, staring at the inn's wall for a while, as if trying to see something behind it, not just in a different space but a different dimension. Then she snapped out of her reverie and winked at the elder. "Alright, let's get the feast started! Eating alone makes me look like some snobbish old lady, so you and your son can tag along. Aw, heck! Bring those martyr-wannabe girls too! Just don't touch anything, because the food is mine!"

Satisfied with her show of generosity, Lina marched towards the kitchen, like the unstoppable force of hunger personified.

The old man wondered whether indeed anything existed that could stop her at all.

* * *

_Lina Inverse and Xelloss. _

_Two strange people in an even stranger relationship. How this came to be?_ _What will happen to them? Read on, and find out._

-o-

**Author's notes:**

First of all, I'd like to give my biggest thanks to **Kaeru Shisho** for beta reading this chapter. If it reads even remotely as an English text, it's his fault. ;)

Additionally, perhaps a little explanation is in order about how Xelloss was able to cast the spells he cast in the story - I know this is a controversial subject in Slayers fandom, so I'll just describe the version I am going to use in this fic:

As spiritual beings, ego is very important to mazoku, and so they usually attempt to accomplish their tasks by depending on their own power alone. In fact, drawing power from someone else in an act of spellcasting is damaging to them: They cannot even finish a black magic incantation without dying. But here comes the tricky part: Non-black spells (including holy magic) _can _be cast by mazoku - it will still hurt them, but such an act is not fatal. Because of this, mazoku are sometimes willing to take the damage and cast such a spell should it prove absolutely necessary - as it seemed to be the case here.

**Thank you for reading, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! May we meet again in the next chapter! :)**


	2. The swamp of memories

**Chapter 2.**** The swamp of memories**

Along the bolder of the Kingdom of Dilse, lay the county known as Man's End. As ominous as the name sounded compared to its actual meaning, it was one of the last places where a traveler could find human civilization this far to the north: The hazardous steeps of the Kataart Mountains could already be seen in the distance. It was a beautiful rangy region, with almost constantly clear skies, lush forests, well-kept fields, and locals known for their kindness and friendly demeanor.

"I said turn back!! Are you two deaf or just completely insane?!" inquired one of these friendly locals.

The pack donkey next to the middle-aged merchant gave a cry of discontent, and took a nervous step back. The man turned to it with a bit of regret on his face, and patted the donkey on the head. "I'm sorry Martha, but these adventurers won't listen to me at all," he murmured, running a hand through his short graying hair, and shot a nasty look towards the people who stood before him on the road: A diminutive sorceress and a dark-haired priest.

"Look, we just wanted to ask about some directions," said Lina, visibly annoyed as well. "We heard that a new branch of the Sorcerer's Guild was recently founded in the area, but no one could give us the exact location of it, so--"

"No-no, you're not going to fool me!" The merchant interrupted her. He gesticulated wildly, which caused his baggy clothing the flail about like some bizarre sail. "All of you adventurer-types are only interested in the swamp! But I swear, I won't tell you a word about it!" He pointed to the east. Approximately six miles away, the valley created by three encircling hills was almost completely covered in fog.

"Swamp?" The sorceress blinked, looking into the direction the man was pointing with confusion. "As far as I know, there are no marshes around here--"

"That's exactly the problem! This one appeared overnight two weeks ago! That is why I'm telling you to stay away from it, for Ceiphied's sake!!" the man yelled, causing the donkey to panic again. "Oh, forgive me Martha…"

"Oh brother," Lina muttered with a sigh, turning to her companion. "We might as well ask his 'friend', she seems to be the more intelligent of the two."

"Don't be so negative, Lina-san." smiled Xelloss, watching the man's attempts to calm the now considerably disturbed animal with amusement. "We _are_ getting some answers; perhaps not to the questions we asked, but interesting ones all the same."

"Okay, fine." The sorceress shrugged fretfully. "You talk to Mr. Donkey-pal, I'm done with this."

The priest cleared his throat in order to get the man's attention. When he received no response, he took a step forward to make sure his voice was heard.

"Excuse me sir, but may we ask you about--" he started to say, but was cut off immediately by the merchant.

"Just be quiet!! Can't you see I'm bu--" The merchant in turn was cut short by Martha, who, finally fed up with her master's yelling, kicked him into a pool of mud on the road.

"Yes dear, I guess I deserved that," the man said in resignation, his vehemence gone entirely. He then turned to the others, and said, "Please, listen to me. No one who entered the swamp came back! Believe it or not, a few days earlier it even consumed Lina Inverse!"

A moment of silence followed; Xelloss and Lina exchanged bewildered glances.

"L-Lina Inverse?? What are you talking about?!" the sorceress stammered.

"I thought you said you were done with this," the mazoku reminded her with a grin.

"Ah, shut up, will you?" Lina waved her hand irritably in his direction, her eyes fixed on the merchant. "Did you say Lina Inverse?"

"Yes, Lina Inverse herself came to this place. " The man nodded eagerly. "She said that she'll find out what happened to the people in the swamp, but she's been there for two days now! I wouldn't care if adventurers like you would just run to their deaths, but I don't want you to feed whatever is in there anymore! If it grows strong enough, it might be targeting us next!"

"Well aren't you the sweetest thing," grumbled Lina. "Okay, if that makes you feel better, now that we know how dangerous it is, we won't go anywhere near the swamp."

"You won't?" The merchant jumped to his feet, suddenly looking hopeful.

"No sir!" The sorceress shook her head resolutely. "We really hate swamps that make people disappear! Right, Xel?"

The priest scratched his head. "Well, I guess that might be true… in certain special circumstances," he said, choosing his words carefully.

"Thank goodness–! I was really sure you wanted to go there!" The merchant swiped his brow with relief. "But wait – you wanted to ask something else before… about a Sausages Guild, right?"

"No, it was nothing important, thanks for all your help." Lina waved to the man, both as a gesture of denial and also to say goodbye.

"You're welcome… I think. Let's be on our way then, Martha," the merchant said, took the donkey's rein and led it down the road with a spring in his step. The sorceress waited for them to be out of earshot before letting out a small laugh.

"Gullible _and_ stupid." She snickered.

_Although...For a travelling merchant, he carried very few actual goods with him, which _is_ kind of odd._

"As usual, accompanying you on this trip proved to be an excellent idea it seems." Xelloss watched the merchant disappear from view as the road headed downhill. "The swamp mystery managed to pique your interest after all, am I right?"

"Not that much," answered Lina. "But holy magic research _will_ have to wait for a while; at least, until I catch the one who's been stealing my identity and give her some well-deserved beating. Who knows what impostors like her have done in my name?"

"But you said you didn't really care about your reputation." The priest raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care as long as I'm the one who's ruining it," the sorceress explained as she left the road and started walking towards the mass of fog in the distance. "But such people can spread rumors about things I'd never, ever do. Like, once I went to a restaurant where the chef told me that he'll make my favorite food, only to put in front of me a huge bowl of-- " Lina shuddered involuntarily, " --snail soup. I'll never know from where he got _that_ idea of all things – the guy was still out cold from my Fireball when I left – but it still gives me the shivers just thinking about it, brr... Stop giggling Xel, or I'll hit you with something."

The two continued walking in the direction of the fog-covered swamp chatting merrily, unaware of the pair of eyes that watched them from the road they just left.

* * *

There could have been no doubt about the marshy area's magical origin – the waterlogged terrain, shaped roughly like a circle with a one mile radius, lay in the middle of the valley, looking completely out of place. Around it, the hills were covered with a meadow buzzing with all forms of life; but just a step further were the soft, muddy paths of earth surrounded by deep, reed-filled bogs and dark, withered sallow trees. Behind them was nothing but a white wall -the thick fog obscured all sight beyond a few dozen feet.

"Almost feels like home," said Xelloss jokingly, as he and Lina reached the swamp's perimeter after a few hours of trekking.

"Don't tell me Wolf Pack Island looks like _this_." The sorceress looked at her companion, a bit taken aback. "Consider it permanently taken off of my 'places to visit'-list."

"I fail to see what is wrong with it," shrugged the priest, gesturing towards the swamp. "A beautiful, natural representation of death and decay. What more can a mazoku ask for?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. " Lina rolled her eyes, and then glanced at the sky. The sun has already lowered a bit; they had about two hours before nightfall. "Look, I don't think we should spend too much time with this; whatever dangers this place has in store for us, it will only get twice as worse after the sun sets. So let's split up and see who can find this 'Lina Inverse' faster."

The mazoku's eyebrows shot up curiously. "Are you suggesting a contest?"

"Why not?" Lina grinned. "The first person to find the impostor and bring her back here wins. And Xelloss…" The cheerful expression suddenly disappeared from her face, replaced by an annoyed frown. "Try not to cheat for a change, okay?"

"Cheat?? Lina-san, I am offended!" The priest put his hand to where his heart should have been to complete his entirely transparent display of faked pique. "I would never lower myself to do something like cheating! I merely… took advantage of some of the rules' more sketchy elements a few times."

"Which means roughly the same thing in my book." The sorceress folded her arms, determined to stand by her principles.

"Unless it is done by you?" quipped Xelloss.

"Exactly."

"I see." The mazoku priest smiled, slowly shaking his head. "Well, Lina-san, the rules are yours to define as always. Shape them in any way you feel appropriate, and I _will _abide to them."

The sorceress gazed at the swamp thoughtfully for a moment, and then, looking satisfied with what she had in mind, snapped her fingers in a playful manner.

"Alright, here's the deal: We'll take different paths. Should we meet, it will be forbidden to hinder, but won't be necessary to aid the opponent." Lina smirked at the mazoku. "And the most important restriction: Neither of us is allowed to use any ability that a typical human commoner wouldn't be able to pull off. This means no teleportation, no spying from the astral side or anything like that, and no spells."

"Not even spells?" Xelloss looked at the sorceress with a perplexed expression.

"No, not even spells," she nodded, visibly satisfied with the priest's confusion. "Well, the Lighting spell can be an exception, as it's very easy to learn and requires no training to use. Any other questions?"

"None, I think I understand the rules completely." Xelloss stepped closer to the sorceress and opened one of his eyes, smiling confidently. "Not a bad strategy, Lina-san, but do not think that just by attempting to level the playing field you will be able to win this competition."

She took a step herself, looking the mazoku straight in the eye. "You know what I'll say to that, Xelloss?" She leaned forward.

"Do tell me, Lina-san." He mimicked her movement – their faces were so close to each other now that their noses almost touched.

Lina poked his temple with her forefinger and whispered, "You start from the opposite edge of the swamp."

The smile from Xelloss' face slowly faded as her words sank in. "N-Now wait a minute--!" he began to say, but the girl already started marching on the muddy path into the gloomy fen.

"And remember, no teleporting!" she called, glancing back, before her form disappeared in the thick fog.

The priest ran a hand through his hair in both amusement and frustration. "Oh my," he muttered, "and _she's_ the one to talk about cheating!"

He quickly turned around and started jogging along the swamp's perimeter.

* * *

After an hour of walking in what she thought to be a straight line and never finding an exit, Lina concluded that the swamp was indeed reluctant to let its visitors leave. The method she wasn't really sure about: She did not notice passing by the same tree or other landmark more than once, which meant she wasn't going around in circles – it had to be something far more unusual.

_I hate to admit it, but my chances of finding that __imposter aren't that good, _she thought, looking around. It was the same thing in endless variations: muddy trails, deep bogs, small thorny bushes and ugly trees. It was a lot more desolate than she initially thought; Lina did not see or hear a single living animal; the entire swamp was wrapped in dead silence. There were also no edible fruits or vegetables to be found, even the water itself was foul._ If she knows any magic she could've conjured her own to drink, but without anything to eat--_

No sooner had these thoughts formed in her mind, than she spotted a small batch of strawberries next to the path just a few feet in front of her.

_What? I swear those weren't there a moment ago! _

She ran forward and examined the plants. They looked real enough.

_Okay, the__re's really no such coincidence. Let's see, now if I'd want to something to drink-- _

She glanced around, and there it was:a huge green leaf on the ground, filled with fresh rainwater. Lina allowed herself a wry smile. _This is really something. I have to be careful what to wish for around here._

She then opened her arms and yelled at the half-dead trees, "Give me a feast for three people and a mountain of gold!"

After a minute of expectant waiting, Lina had to conclude that neither the food nor the treasure would appear.

"Figures," she murmured. "And here I was, thinking that people might be never coming out of the swamp because they enjoy themselves too much."

The sorceress turned around to walk further down the path, but skidded to an abrupt halt as she saw the figure of a young woman appearing from the mist before her.

* * *

Keeping his eyes on the swamp to his left, Xelloss rushed through the tall grass. It took him quite an amount of willpower to keep his speed in check; regardless of his desire to hustle as quickly as possible, according to the contest rules he had to keep his body within human limits.

"This will most certainly not do," he muttered to himself. "I am giving Lina-san too much lead. By the time I reach the other side of this quagmire--" He suddenly stopped, a mischievous grin appearing on his face. "Then again, if I am a 'typical human commoner', I surely cannot tell where the other side of the swamp is exactly. I just have to decide for myself."

With a satisfied nod, Xelloss turned around and walked into the fog.

* * *

Lina watched the woman as she fumbled her way closer, looking completely exhausted. She wore an elaborate sorceress' attire, with intricate golden designs woven into the pleasant-looking but sturdy green fabric; her shoulder pads were adorned with several large gems. One could think, however, that all of these ornate embellishments were simply there to compensate for her average figure, dull brown eyes and hair wrapped in a simple ponytail, and a face that couldn't be better described than plain and featureless, especially in the contrast of her clothing.

Lina was not about to get bogged down by such details, however. Cracking her knuckles, she threw a predatory grin at the girl.

"Suddenly I miss my mountain of gold a lot less," she muttered with glee. "When it comes to wish-fulfillment, this is just as good." Raising her voice, she addressed the other sorceress. "Hey there! Who _you_ might be, I wonder?"

The girl looked around confused, as if she did not notice Lina's presence at all until now. "Oh fantastic, another illusion?" she said with a tired sigh, eyeing the sorceress warily. "My name is Lina Inverse. You better not attempt any hostile action towards me, or you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

'_Hostile action'? Geez, if you want to pretend to be me, at least try not to sound like someone who's just graduated from Geek Academy!_

"Wow, that's really something!" Lina put her hands together in mock excitement. "I want to be Lina Inverse too! Do you know where can I buy such a fancy shoulder guard which lets me use the name?"

"W-What?" the girl blurted out, not at all expecting such a reaction.

_She's a bit on the slow side, huh. Don't worry, I'll get you up to speed..._

"Stealing another's identity must be _soo_ much fun!" the sorceress continued, sarcasm much more evident in her voice now.

"I-I'm sorry, I have been walking around in this swamp for a while, so my cognitive abilities are not in the best shape." The girl touched her temple, trying to drive away a coming headache. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you are getting at."

_Aargh, she and her cognitive abilities! This woman is so stupid that beating her up will almost make me feel bad... Almost._

"Okay, listen up!" Lina dropped her cheerful facade entirely and glared at the other sorceress. "You are _not_ Lina Inverse. I happen to know that because_ I_ am the real one, get it? And I _really_ don't like to see my name used by others!"

"Which means you are going to use force on me?" the girl asked innocently.

_Oh, by the gods--!_

"YES!!" the sorceress yelled at the top of her lungs.

"So you're really just another illusion then." The fake Lina Inverse nodded. "I might be tired, but don't delude yourself into thinking that I will allow myself to be vanquished by you! I will strike you down, because...How was it again? _Victory is always mine_!"

Lina's eyes bulged while one of her hands tore into her hair. "Y-You even stole my lines!" she cried in outrage.

The fraud did not answer; instead, she brought one of her hands forward and uttered in a confident voice,

"BURST FLARE!"

"Wha--?" Lina instinctively lunged to the side, just before the roaring pillar of flame struck the spot where she had been standing and reduced a nearby tree to ash.

"I didn't hear you chanting any Chaos Words at all. Not bad." she said, smirking as she regained her feet.

"Hey, you are still alive?" The other girl looked surprised. "That spell always managed to deal with the illusions before!"

"Talking won't get you anywhere," said the sorceress, signaling her opponent to come closer in a provocative gesture. "Show me what you got!"

"D-Don't you dare to m-mock me! I h-have an explosive temper you know!" the fake Lina stuttered. "I-- Ah, whatever! BLAST BOMB!"

_That spell,__ just out of the blue--?!_

"No thanks!" As dozens of fiery balls of energy appeared out of thin air around the impostor, Lina took advantage of the spell's delay, aimed for her opponent's eyes, and yelled, "LIGHTING!"

The blinding flash of light distracted the girl just enough to misdirect her spell, causing the swarm of fireballs to crash with a thundering explosion into a deep bog around twenty feet away. It still managed to boil a huge amount of the water in it, filling its surroundings with hot steam, and combined with the thick fog, making it completely impossible to see anything but a wreathing white mass.

"Just you wait!" The impostor seemed to be rapidly losing her cool. "Once I get these stars out of my eyes-- Ahm, I mean once this steam goes away then I'll--" She suddenly realized that even though the blindness caused by the spell was gone andthe swirling hot air has mostly dissipated, she _still_ couldn't see a thing; she was staring into a wall of silver radiance in all directions. Squinting her eyes, she could make out dozens upon dozens balls of light, stacked upon each other, surrounding her in the shape of a cylinder. She tried to break out of it, but the spheres moved along with her, following her every step.

She heard Lina's voice. "Sorry, I think we had enough fun for today."

"W-Why you--!" The girl gritted her teeth, but when she spoke again, her voice regained a bit of her former confidence. "You're pretty astute for an illusion, but I don't think I need to aim this! DRAGON SLA--!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Lina appeared in the cylinder of light behind her with her short sword drawn, and hit the other sorceress on the back of the head with the handle. The fraud probably didn't even realize what happened; she just collapsed to the ground, knocked out instantly.

* * *

Xelloss wandered through the swamp, watching the trees around him with interest: Their forms were strangely curved, as if they were writhing in pain. It was an unnerving sight, but the priest did not seem to mind; he looked at them like a tourist would when encountering intriguing pieces of art at an exhibition.

"Now let's see." He pointed at a group of four sallows in order from left to right. "'L'... 'I'...'N'...'A'." With a horrible creaking noise, the trees adjusted their branches to depict the letters they were assigned. "Perfect!" The mazoku regarded his creation with delight, before making a sweeping gesture towards a nearby bog filled with reed.

They twisted around like snakes, revealing a second message: _I know you are here, colleague._

After a moment of silence, the four trees and the reed disappeared, and a disembodied voice filled the air.

"_Who are you?_" it said. "_How do you know about me?"_

"My, I never expected to meet a fellow mazoku these days who did not know me yet." He raised an eyebrow curiously. "I am Xelloss, the Priest, in the service of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium. Surely that will ring a few bells."

"_Xelloss..._" the voice sounded, unsure, as if trying to place the name._ "Yes, I think I remember you._"

"Your identity was not hard to deduce," Xelloss continued. "I know of very few beings who can manipulate reality to such an extent, and I doubt the gods would create something like this. But I must say that you do not seem to have it under control entirely - someone with enough willpower can easily mold the environment to suit his own needs, as you probably noticed."

"_You are Xelloss," _the being repeated, no longer paying attention to him. "_Yes, and I think you just fell perfectly into my trap._"

"A trap?" The priest blinked. "Really? Would you care to elaborate?"

"_The trap which you can never escape from!" _the voice yelled triumphantly. "_This will be the place where you die!"

* * *

_

Lina carefully laid the counterfeit sorceress down on the ground. She had not wounded her seriously, but managed to ensure that she'd be unconscious for a while. Crouching next to her, she studied her face with a thoughtful look, and tried to make sense of what had just happened during their duel.

_She is just a twenty-something greenhorn adventurer – and she can cast a Blast Bomb instantly without amplifying her magic capacity at all. _She shook her head in disbelief. _That's unreal! Even I can't do that after so many years!_

"_She is one of my chosen." _A strange, genderless voice reached the sorceress' ears, seemingly coming from one of the sallows next to her. Taken by surprise, Lina jumped to her feet, and regarded the tree suspiciously.

"Chosen?" she repeated. "Chosen by whom? And for what?"

"_To live in her own little world of fantasy, and be tormented by her own demons." _Lina spun around nervously; the voice was now coming from a tree behind her back. "_Until finally, when her soul gets completely consumed by pain and suffering, she will become one with me._"

"Who the heck are you?" the sorceress demanded, stepping closer to the girl's unconscious form.

"_I gave her the power she so badly wanted, and led her on the path towards Man's End, into this swamp, which will become her own end as well." _The voice continued without answering. "_A fittingly sorry end for someone who lives off of imitating others, right? But you are not like her, not at all. You are different…"_ it added unsurely._ "You are the true Lina Inverse, aren't you?"_

"Depends on who wants to know," she said, clenching her fists. "When it comes to annoying evil swamp spirits, I tend to say 'no'."

"_Yes, you really are the real thing!"_ Mirthless laughter filled the moor._ "Such a rare opportunity for entertainment – and revenge!_"

The swamp around Lina disappeared, replaced by a swirling mass of bright, bleached-out colors. From time to time, she could glimpse the forms of buildings, landmarks or people, some of whom might even looked familiar, but they melded back into colorful chaos a moment later, before she could get a good look at them.

_This pattern-- It's a bit like what the Illusion spell creates, just a _lot_ bigger!_

"_I wanted you all to wander around in this place, so I may absorb you slowly--" _Unmistakable passion and longing filled the voice now as it spoke. _"--but with you two, I will make an exception!"_

Lina was about to ask what it meant by that exactly, when suddenly the colors around her solidified, and she found herself somewhere in the past – at a certain time and place she would have never chosen to revisit.

* * *

"_Prepare to meet your end, Beast Priest Xelloss!_" The voice yelled once more. "_Your power, your soul, your very self – it all will be mine!"_

"Ambitious plans. Unfortunately, you have no chance to fulfill them," the mazoku commented, making no effort to suppress a yawn.

"_You might be mocking me now, but your brashness will not last long,_" the swamp spirit threatened, once again without any effect whatsoever.

"Tell me then," the priest asked good-naturedly, "didn't you feel like there was a certain 'weight' upon you in the last couple of hours?"

There was no response. Xelloss smiled a creepy little smile, and nodded.

"I must admit that it is my fault. The mere presence of my astral body makes nearby weaker mazoku like you uncomfortable; I really can't help it, the difference of power between us is just too great." He opened his eyes and gazed into the fog menacingly. "You still fail to comprehend who I am, don't you? I can easily destroy you or even this entire valley with a thought. Don't you think that it would be wiser if you would try to assist me instead of throwing useless threats in my way?"

After a few more seconds of silence, the voice spoke again, at a slow pace, "_Yes, you are right. You might be capable of killing me,_" it said, then added with unvarnished glee: "_But right now, you cannot._"

"And what makes you think that?" The mazoku's brows furrowed.

"_I can see a bit into the minds of those who enter my realm, Beast Priest._" The spirit taunted him. "_I can feel their memories of pain, desire and fear and use these to my advantage, but in you I managed to glimpse something else as well: an agreement between you and Lina Inverse." _Xelloss' smile wavered for the fraction of a second; that was the only sign by one could have told that he was indeed caught._ "Your power is of no use to you right now, and I can see through your bluffs – the truth is the only weapon you can use against me. But that's not something you would prefer, correct?_"

"Not at all, my good friend: I might play with words, but I pride myself on never telling a lie," the priest said cheerfully, still confident as ever. "Here is a piece of truth you requested: the fact that I cannot kill you currently does not mean that you can hurt me in any way. I might keep my abilities in check for now, but I am still a mazoku, a noticeably stronger mazoku in fact. How do you plan to end me then?"

"_Let that be a secret for now,_" the voice murmured mysteriously, and the swamp around Xelloss melted away into pitch-black darkness.

* * *

Lina found herself in the middle of a thunderstorm which was trapped into a cubical basement room. The floor was covered with arcane symbols of various origins, most notably four glowing concentric magic circles, each of them belonging to a different type of magic. The biggest one was of the shamanistic variety, radiating rapidly changing colors from all ends of the spectrum, then came the white magic carving, glowing with its soothing white light. Inside it was the circle of black magic; true to its name, it seemed to be devouring light instead of releasing it, and the innermost one, a small circle of holy magic, shone brilliant gold.

Inside the holy circle was the manifestation of oblivion itself. Any attempts to describe it would be in vain, as its presence could not have been truly seen or heard. These senses provided an incomprehensible impression which varied from person to person – but its existence could be _felt_, and that bone-chilling sense of dread was exactly the same for all who dared to come near. It was a foreign feeling to most, but Lina knew it all too well, as she was almost irrecoverably lost in it many years ago. Inside those circles was a tiny drop from the Sea of Chaos.

Sparks of electricity flew everywhere. Four steel monoliths, which rose from the circles and leaned slightly towards the center, were glowing red from the heat alone. Three figures lay prone on the floor, apparently forced to remain in such a position to avoid the arcs of lightning around them. The one closest to Lina was a young girl in her late twenties, with smooth, shoulder length black hair, dressed in a priestess' clothing. Her blue eyes scanned the room frantically, and then looked straight at her.

"Are we making any progress, Lina-san?" she asked. Her voice was firm and determined, but her face was marred by worry.

"I'm not really sure Amelia." Lina heard her own voice talking. While she didn't physically age over the years, she still found it sounding strangely immature and right now also quite nervous. "I'm having a hard time keeping this damn crystal ball from losing focus of the room, but the earthquakes subsided a bit, at least where we are now."

_Of course, I wasn't r__eally there with them back then, _Lina realized.

"Don't worry, we got everyone out of the city safely." She heard a male voice from the same unidentifiable direction as her own. "Phil didn't want to go, but we, uhm, convinced him."

"Thank you Gourry-san." Amelia sighed with relief.

"Listen, just let me get to you!" It was her voice again. "I'm a black magic specialist for Ruby Eye's sake, I can surely help you guys!"

_Damn it, why did I have to be so powerless that day! Just like today, in fact--_

"We already talked this through Lina, and you're staying put!" snapped another person present, a fair haired man, roughly the same age as his partner. He kept his eyes on center of the room, before throwing a glance in the priestess' direction. "Amelia, stay focused, the white magic circle is losing power too quickly! We cannot afford to make a mistake at this point, and idle chatter will--"

"Ooohohoho!" The third person in the room laughed; a woman who greatly resembled Amelia, but was a few years older, with a figure even more well-developed than hers. Her hair was also longer, her priestess clothes were shorter and more revealing, and even this memory of her laugh made the sorceress cringe. "You should know Lina that I, Naga the White Serpent, never ever needed your help, and that is not going to change now! My sister and Zelgadiss will be more than enough to handle--"

"Look out!!" the man yelled, jumping to his feet. An arc of electricity instantly cut into him, but even with his face contorted by pain he lunged forward, pushing Amelia out of the way just before one of the monoliths, now half-melted, toppled down on her.

_Zel had found his cure almost five years ago, but he still forgot he didn't have his indestructible body at times._

"Zelgadiss!" Frightened, the priestess put her hand on the blackened wound on his shoulder, visible from underneath his torn clothing. White magic energy bathed it with white light for a moment, before the man gently but resolutely pushed her hand away.

"I'll live," he breathed. "But we need to leave _now_; with that monolith gone we can no longer control it at all. I think we still managed to make sure that the explosion will remain inside the palace walls, but--"

"You've got to be joking!" Naga approached them, protecting herself with a barrier of white magic. Her clenched fists were shaking; while she attempted to hide it with her leisurely pace, keeping that spell going against the pressure of the electric arcs visibly took its toll on her. "We cannot just leave the palace of our ancestors to its fate like that!"

"Forget about the damn palace, Gracia!" yelled Zelgadiss, standing up as the approaching barrier enveloped all three of them. Even from behind his angry voice, Lina could hear the roar of the lightning storm suddenly intensifying. The sorceress' heart skipped a beat. "If we don't get out of here _right now_, then--"

He never managed to end the sentence; with a blinding, silent flash of light, the room, along with much of the Saillune Royal Palace, blinked out of existence – and Lina's surroundings melded back into the previous twisting mix of colors.

"Are you _done_?" The sorceress demanded in a low, hateful voice.

"_Of course not,_" answered the spirit of the swamp gleefully. "_In fact, I think you endured this little time trip a bit too well. Let's speed up the pace somewhat, shall we?_"

Lina felt her head spin, as dozens of memories lunged at her all at once. She no longer relived them in real time; the experiences and impressions ran through her mind with dizzying speed, not allowing her any chance to collect herself.

_What the--__?_

She is at home with her family. The delicious smell of roast beef fills the room as she puts the tray on the dining table - the kids drool, and so does Gourry. Lunch progresses peacefully, until--

"Mom, can I ask you something?" A little girl from the other end of the table speaks.

"Shoot."

"Is it bad that you never get older?"

Short nervous silence. "Well, sweetheart, I _could_ file a complaint to the Lord of Nightmares about it, but it wouldn't do much good. That's the way the magic I use works." Question evaded.

"But… What about you and Dad? One of my friends said that you won't be happy if you marry someone who is much older than you, and the gap between you two will just get bigger and bigger!"

Much longer nervous silence.

"Then I guess I need to keep myself in tip-top shape so I won't fall too far behind!" Gourry's laughter eases the situation, but the unanswered question still hangs heavily in the air.

_When I get my hands on you, swamp spirit, I'll-- _

They're heading home from a guild meeting at Sairaag, already late at night. There's a small inn on the side of the road - the owner looks half-asleep as he regards them.

"So it will be a room for two?"

"Yep, and little late night supper would be nice too."

The man yawns, but smiles. "Very well. A room and some food for the little lady and her grandpa."

Gourry slaps his forehead. Her expression darkens. "You've got exactly three seconds to apologize."

"Come on Lina, it isn't worth it--" the swordsman tries in vain.

"Ehm… I'm sorry, is he your father?"

"FIREBALL!"

The inn catches fire, and two spend the night under a tree.

"Why can't we just let them think I'm your grandfather? It doesn't really matter." Gourry murmurs drowsily from under his beard.

"Yeah right, jellyfish. You just want an official reason to treat me like a kid."

"Oh dang, you got me." He is snoring a minute later, but sleep escapes her for hours.

_I swear, I'm going to tear you a new one--_

Sunlight shines through the window curtain. An old, wizened hand caresses it slowly, carefully, as if touching the sun itself.

"Gourry, get away from there, you'll catch a cold!" She runs to him worriedly. "You've spent way too much time in bed this year already!"

A wry smile. "How many of those mazoku guys did we fight together, Lina?"

A surprised blink. "Well, even I lost count after a while. Why?"

"I'm just asking because it looks like you're still afraid that the sun will suddenly lunge at me and tear me to pieces or something."

"What a jokester. Where have you been hiding all that talent all these years?" She frowns.

He winks. "It's really your fault. I guess I should just sit by a table with a cup of tea and drive you insane with stories about what happened 'when I was your age', but I simply cannot feel like an old man with you around."

She tries to smile, but something gets into her eye and does not let her.

_Enough already--!_

She sits by his bed all day and night – everything else ceases to exist. Every breath he takes is a small triumph, every glance they share strengthens the slipping grip she holds over her own sanity. As long as he won't give up, she will last as well. She is Lina Inverse after all - and yet, this one battle she cannot win.

"Hey, Lina… It's not a shame if you cry…"

She breaks down. The emotions she tried to seal away for so long flare up: Sadness. Fear. Hopelessness. Pain.

"I said **ENOUGH**!!"

Lina felt the scream almost sticking in her throat, like it had not seen use for years. The onslaught of memories stopped, and for a moment she found herself kneeling in the middle of an endless green meadow, with clear skies and the setting sun – and then it was replaced by the foggy scenery of the desolate swamp. Her right fist trembled as her fingers strangled the blade of her short sword, cutting through her glove and drawing more and more blood. The sorceress welcomed the pain; it helped her concentrate and kept her in the present.

"Was that you plan?" she hissed. "You were trying to break me by showing me those memories? Let me tell you something: I already had a lot, maybe even too much time to let these things haunt me and to decide what to do with my goddamned life. Yes, Gourry died!" She yelled at wall of fog, tears swelling in her eyes. "My friends also passed away; even my children left me one by one! But what good I'd do to any of them if I keep wallowing in my misery, or if I just roll over and die?! They would never forgive me that!" She gritted her teeth. "The only thing you managed to do is to piss me off, and mark my words, I will find a way to make you _pay_!"

Silence reigned in the swamp; whether the spirit left or just didn't answer, Lina could not tell. She sheathed her sword and slowly stood up, only to notice the other sorceress staring at her from the ground, her expression one of shock.

"Just great, I really hoped to get rid of you for a while," Lina muttered, assuming a defensive stance.

The girl did not seem to want a fight, however. Sitting up, she asked the sorceress with a trembling voice: "Is what you said really true?"

Lina shrugged. "There'd be no point in lying; the guy can apparently read my mind. Being me is not all fun and games you know." she added with a sad half-smile, and then gave a tired sigh. "Look, it would be great to beat you up a few more times, but I'm really not in the mood right now. Let's settle for a truce for now, okay?" She walked up to her, and extended her right hand. "I'm Lina Inverse."

The girl looked at the blood-covered hand in horror, but did not dare to refuse.

"I am Li-- I mean Jane Smith," she said with a perplexed expression.

_Jane Smith? A downright average-looking girl with a downright average name._

"So Jane, could you tell me something about what is exactly going on here? What does that spirit want with you, and how on earth can you cast spells like that?" Lina asked.

"The spells?" The girl looked surprised. "I cast them just like you do: By declaring their designations!"

"You don't say," the sorceress deadpanned. "Listen kid, I've been in the sorcery business for a few decades and I _know_ what Power Words are, but I also know that there are other things you need to do before you could say those in order to get an incantation to work!"

"Power Words?" Jane looked at Lina like she had started speaking in a foreign language. "I'm sorry but… what are those?"

She did not notice the murderous look appearing on the sorceress' face until it was too late.

* * *

Xelloss turned around to get a good look at his surroundings, but the eyes of his human form could only convey the same thing to him in all directions: Blackness.

"I truly hope your grand strategy does not hang on the fact that I might be afraid of the dark," he noted in a scathing tone, only to realize that he could not hear the sound of his own voice.

"_This is not simple darkness, Beast Priest_." The voice of the swamp spirit on the other hand was loud and clear. "_It is complete void, true nothingness. Light, matter, even space itself – they were all undone. It is the fulfillment of the ultimate goal of the mazoku race, the final dream realized. And how ironic – it is also one of your own greatest fears. What do you think of that?_"

"Ironic, perhaps yes, but it is also completely logical," said Xelloss, not allowing the smallest amount of unease to enter his voice despite his inability to hear a word of what he was saying. "Without anything else to feed on, our urge to destabilize and ruin all of creation will turn upon us, and we will destroy ourselves as well. Not a cheerful thought, is it? We take it for granted, but very rarely bother to think about what that actually means: Our race desires destruction, but at the same time we have no desire of dying – Fibrizo-sama was the perfect example of that. Therefore, I find our so-called ultimate goal to be something worth pursuing, but at the same time not worth achieving." His smile widened. "Did that answer your question? But wait, if you can read my mind, you should have known the answer already. It seems your ability has its limits – or am I mistaken?"

"_Let us keep the discussion to _your_ limits, Xelloss-san,_" the spirit retorted. "_There is something among your fears which is even more laughable than this._"

A ghostly figure appeared before the priest; a young woman in a black and white sorceress outfit, with long reddish-brown hair and crimson eyes. She smiled at him confidently.

Xelloss, on the other hand, lost all of his confidence for a moment and involuntarily took a step back.

"Her?! I am sorry, but I find this outrageously insulting," he protested.

"_Insulting?_" the voice echoed. "_That's true; I hoped you would say 'ridiculous' in which case you would have been lying. But no matter, the point remains the same: You are afraid of this human, Beast Priest. You have become Lina Inverse's little servant, her lapdog and even her lover just to make sure that you two always end up on the same side, because somewhere deep inside you greatly fear the possibility of confronting her._"

Losing balance, the priest leaned on his staff as he struggled to stay on his feet, his left hand touching his temple in discomfort.

"_Let me help you get a good look at your common past,_" continued the spirit in an amused tone. "_The battle with Garv, Dynast and Dark Star; her victory over Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, more than once in fact. I can almost say that I'm not surprised that you feel you have no chance._" Xelloss' grip tightened on his staff. "_What is the matter? Perhaps this fact does not go well with your mazoku ego? Go ahead, say that I am lying!_"

Xelloss raised his head from his stooping position, and saw the sparkling ghost of the sorceress towering over him, grown to almost three times her normal size. She held a blade of chaotic energy in her hands, raising it to strike.

"Sorry Xel, but that's how you guys work," she mocked him. "Once you fear that you'll lose the battle, you've already lost."

She swung the sword downwards.

The priest raised his left hand and caught the blade between two fingers.

"You again failed to glimpse below the surface, I'm afraid," he chuckled as the veil of silence around him dissipated. "Lina Inverse no longer poses any threat to me. She may or may not have before, but I am certain she does not now. I did not avoid confrontation, merely took it to another level. You say I've become her lapdog? On the contrary my friend, I have become the last pillar of her sanity! Without me she could have never moved on, and would still roam the countryside alone not unlike this miserable ghost replica of yours!" With a violent sweep of his hand, the phantom disappeared without a trace. "I think I understand now: The only thing you are capable of is to take bits of my emotions and memories and throw them back at me. You cannot do anything with them, as you have no thoughts or ideas of your own. You are a burnt-out husk of a being, a mindless parrot, nothing more."

"_No! I am not!_" The spirit screamed, sounding panicked all of a sudden.

"Tsk-tsk," Xelloss waggled his finger jovially, "for someone who just made a speech on telling only the truth, that wasn't a very nice thing to say."

Like black glass, the darkness around the priest broke apart with a loud clatter. He found himself in the middle of the swamp once more – and glimpsed a familiar figure behind one of the sallow trees.

* * *

"You're playing me for a fool, are ya?!" Lina growled, wrestling Jane down to the ground and putting the girl into one of her well-known vicious headlocks.

"I can't breeeathe--!" her victim whimpered.

"Good, then I'm doing it right!" the sorceress replied mercilessly. "Now fess up!"

"I've a-already told you everything, I swear!" Jane pleaded. "I don't possess any other k-knowledge of the phenomenon you speak of! I just say the spell's name, and it works!"

"Just like that?!" Lina lessened her throttling a little.

"Just like that, really!" the girl nodded as hard as she could given her current position. "It all started when I began adventuring as Lina Inv-- I mean, you." The older sorceress snorted in disbelief, but relaxed her grip and let her go.

"And didn't you think it was a _little _strange that you suddenly became one of the most powerful magic users in the world?" she demanded with her arms folded.

"To be honest it wasn't." Jane answered. "You see, there are hundreds of stories about the deeds of Lina Inverse – and she is described as a completely different person in almost each one of them! So I thought: Maybe these are really all different people, who took upon the name and were granted magical power because of it? After all, Lina Inverse as a single person couldn't have been around for a century! It would make perfect sense!"

"I don't think it makes any sense whatsoever," grumbled the sorceress. "You were just reading a bit too many of those legends for your own good. What are you anyway, some kind of bookworm?"

"I… I originally studied to be historian." The girl replied hesitantly. "I wanted to specialize in the history of adventurers, but my professors told me that it was not a field worth of serious academic study."

_I knew it! She really _is _a geek!_

"And so with your hurt pride you decided to become a Lina Inverse-imitator instead?" The sorceress raised a taunting eyebrow.

"It was just a joke at first!" Jane said defensively. "I wanted to spend a night at an inn and signed in as Lina Inverse – and I was given the room for free! When people heard that name, they all became a lot nicer to me, so I used it again a few times."

"If you mean 'nice' as 'fearing for their lives', then yes." Lina muttered mostly to herself.

"Then I suddenly started having these magical powers, and began roaming the world, liquidating bandits and stuff!" The girl's voice was filled with excitement. "I felt almost unstoppable! Well, at least until I came to this swamp. All the legendary beasts I ever heard or read about jumped at me from every corner; I was able to deal with them, but there was really no end to it, and I became increasingly tired, and--" She shook her head violently, as if trying to drive a bad memory away.

"And if what he said is any indication, our lovely host had this all planned from the get go." the sorceress added thoughtfully.

"_You got that right, Lina Inverse._"

"Speak of the devil." She turned towards the voice with a mirthless expression.

"W-Who was that?" Jane looked around surprised.

"Didn't he talk to you before?" Lina glanced at the girl. "He's the one who runs this little charade, the slimebag."

"_I've been… thinking about what you told me a little while ago,_" the spirit continued. "_It was one nice outburst which deserved a few drama awards – but it was not the entire truth. You left out one very important detail: Your amazingly naïve and thoughtless reliance on _him_." _The two women saw a figure emerging from the whiteness of the fog.

"Xelloss--?" the sorceress spoke unsurely.

* * *

"How did you manage to find me?" the priest saw Lina running up to him, her expression suspicious.

"You could say I was guided here," answered Xelloss with a shrug. "This swamp possesses its own will, as you surely have noticed."

"Tell me about it," she gave a wry smile, before her eyes suddenly took on a mischievous glint. "I wonder what the spirit tried to show _you_? Your infamous baby pictures?"

"As you know, I have no infamous baby pictures to speak of." The priest scratched his head uncomfortably, but retained his ever-present smile. "Why those of all things? Didn't it occur to you that I may have my own hidden emotions that are worth exploiting?"

"Can't say it didn't," the sorceress turned her back to him and started walking down a path, "but then I imagined the spirit showing you all the horrible things you did in your life, and I couldn't really see you breaking down in tears." She stopped after putting a few feet of distance between them. "You may have your special hidden emotions Xel, but they are pretty damn hard to catch."

"Maybe that's because they are, well, hidden?" the priest offered.

"Or maybe it's because they don't exist." she replied, her voice solemn. The mazoku looked at her with a bewildered expression.

"_You still say you aren't her lapdog, Beast Priest?_" the swamp spirit's voice whispered in his ear. "_She treats you like that, and yet I can already see that you are thinking up some lighthearted comment to ease the situation. Mazoku who actually had some remaining pride have killed for a lot less than this. What about you?_"

"Are you trying to make a point?" Xelloss murmured sternly.

"You know Xelloss," Lina continued musingly, visibly unaware of the exchange, "I've been thinking a lot about things recently."

"_Let me tell you if you haven't realized yourself: You have become subservient and soft. What happened to the mazoku who would 'gladly kill Lina-san with his own hands'?_"

"Nothing happened." The priest answered matter-of-factly. "What I told Filia-san a century ago still holds true."

"_I'll believe that when I see it._"

Xelloss' lips curved into a chilling smile. He held his free left hand out to the side, his palm open.

"A knife, please." A grotesque curved dagger materialized in his hand. He grasped the hilt and approached the sorceress with large strides.

"I've thought about this so-called relationship of ours." Lina still stared into the mist. "About what it really means. Whether it actually makes any sense at all."

"Fortunately, I don't have to hear that through." The mazoku spoke in an emotionless voice, and without any fuss or fanfare, plunged the knife hilt-deep into the sorceress' neck.

* * *

Lina watched the scene with a hard expression. It all occurred just a few feet away and she was able to hear every word that was said, but neither Xelloss nor that disturbingly exact copy of hers seemed to notice her or Jane's presence. Her face remained dispassionate even when the priest ran her copy through with the dagger, while Jane standing next to her screamed in horror.

"_And he actually did it._" The swamp spirit sounded almost surprised. "_I would've never thought that he would go this far, but your knight in shining armor has just shown his true colors, Lina Inverse. I wonder, what will happen to the resolve you displayed earlier without his support?"_

The sorceress closed her eyes with a sigh and spoke in a low, barely audible voice, "Xelloss knew that wasn't me."

"_How on earth could he know?!" _The voice was filled with both scorn and frustration. "_With the eternal power of his undying love or something?! You are getting more pitiful by the minute!"_

"No," Lina answered with her eyes still closed, a hint of a smile appearing in the corner of her lips. "I know this because he keeps to the rules of our contest. 'It is not necessary to aid, but forbidden to hinder your opponent' - look it up in my head if you don't believe me."

A few moments of silence passed, before the voice let out a hateful scream, this time addressing the priest:

"_Y-You!_" it yelled. "_You really knew it was not her, but how?! I have created this replica from your memories to the finest detail; you have killed the same Lina Inverse that lives inside your mind!"_

"That Lina Inverse is quite incomplete," the priest explained as he raised his head and gazed at the invisible sky thoughtfully. "For instance, it would be completely expectable and logical for her to say the things you made her say – but the real one never does, for reasons I cannot truly understand." His expression softened. "And most importantly, even if she did say all these things, Lina-san would never allow herself to be killed so easily. She would realize my intention at the last moment, may already have a plan to counter my own, or something different entirely. I cannot say what, why or how; that is one of the things that make her so… uniquely interesting."

"A real charmer," Lina muttered as she began to walk in the priest's direction. "He knows just what a girl wants to hear: 'She won't let herself get killed too easily.' I'm melting, really."

"You t-think that's humorous?" Jane's stunned voice sounded from behind her. "That s-spirit or something is right: he is a demon! The old legends are teeming with stories like that; he will really put that knife in your back when you are no longer useful or entertaining to him!"

The sorceress stopped. "To be honest, sometimes I also wait for that to happen," she said, her eyes fixed on Xelloss. The mazoku still stood there, his head raised, lost in his own thoughts. "Then we would be even I guess, and I would do what I could to stop him."

"Even?" the girl repeated, unsure what to make of her words.

"Yeah," Lina turned her head back to look at her and smiled. "The truth is that I owe him. Big time."

She reached forward with her hand and felt a weak force field, an invisible barrier of sorts which kept their presence hidden from those on the other side. With a violent push, she made the barrier stretch too long and collapse.

"Ah, Lina-san!" The priest noticed her immediately and greeted her with a pleasant, if a bit strained expression. "My, have you been here all this time?"

The sorceress nodded. "Breaking the spell which has been keeping us apart was almost too easy," she noted. "It seems our favorite mind-reader expected me to attack you or something after the shocking revelations took place."

She took out her pink slipper and hit Xelloss in the face.

"And he was right!" She hit him again; the surprised priest raised his hand in front of his face in defense, but that only caused her to switch targets and start hitting the top of his head instead. "You idiot! Do you know how many times _I_ had the urge to kill _you _along with your smartass remarks with my own hands?! The difference is, I never thought it would be a good idea to make a live demonstration of it!! Take that!" She kicked her right knee forward, aiming for a particularly sensitive body part – but even though she managed to score a direct hit, nothing happened.

"Now Lina-san, my projection is indeed quite detailed, but you cannot make a mazoku feel uncomfortable with such a thing." The priest smiled at her almost apologetically.

"Then why is your face getting all red and sweaty?" the sorceress asked in the sweetest voice. As if on cue, Xelloss fell face forward into the mud.

"I am coming to hate both the human body and the rules of this contest with passion," he groaned from the ground. "The life of a typical human commoner is indeed hard."

"Serves you right." Lina folded her arms, and then turned to the other girl. "Come on Jane, don't just stand there." She gestured towards the priest, who was currently making a heroic effort to stand up. "Don't worry, he only eats people on Wednesdays."

"But-- It _is _Wednesday!" she complained in a faint voice and refused to come any closer. Lina slapped her forehead with a groan.

"Would she be the fake 'Lina Inverse' we are looking for?" Xelloss, back on his feet, studied the girl curiously. "Truth to be told, I expected something different."

"Me too." The sorceress shrugged. "But she is the one, and that means I am currently in the lead," she added playfully.

"Perhaps a bit, but not by much." the priest waggled a finger in front of her face. "I think I also managed to uncover something valuable: the identity of the being who is keeping us here." Lina's eyes widened. "I will gladly share this piece of information with you – under certain conditions."

"Which are--?" she raised an eyebrow.

"A change in the contest goals, naturally." The mazoku smiled. "I don't think Jane-san's person is an important aspect any longer. The winner should be the one who first manages to leave the swamp."

"Okay, deal." Lina nodded eagerly. "I've got a score to settle with the guy, anyway. So who is he?"

"Saying 'it' would perhaps be more precise." Xelloss leaned closer to her. "Some time ago in the last century, rumors began to spread among my race about of a mazoku who appeared to be trapped in a state between existence and oblivion. It was damaged beyond its ability to heal, its astral body had mostly dispersed, and with it, most of its memories and identity had been lost. For some reason, however, _something_ had remained which continued to struggle to stay alive. In order to accomplish that, it strived to absorb the astral forms of others, and use their identity in place of its own. The problem was, of course, that while it is possible to absorb the power or experiences of those around you, not even this being was able to hold their innermost essence for long. The soul eventually passed on to the afterlife, leaving its memories behind but robbing the creature of what it wanted most: a sense of self."

"And so it had to continuously look for new victims." the sorceress concluded, her expression grave. "But since when can mazoku read minds?"

"We can't." The priest shook his head. "But the very existence of such a being is something that should have never been possible. That is why I had my doubts until now whether the Nameless One, as it is called, is really more than a rumor or legend."

"_I am not nameless!!" _the voice wailed, sounding desperate. "_I possess hundreds of names!_"

"None of which belong to you," Xelloss retorted with a cruel grin. "Although I can understand your concern, considering the moment you admit your own emptiness will also be the moment when you will truly die." He turned back to the sorceress. "Well, Lina-san, considering we are dealing with one of my kind, I would normally advise you to relax the restrictions on the use of our abilities a bit – but that would not really help _you_ at the moment, now would it?"

Lina smiled wryly. "You're right Xelloss, I can't use anything stronger than a Lighting spell today, rules or not. Was it really that obvious?"

"You would not have limited your own greatest asset without a reason, so yes, it was pretty obvious from the start," the mazoku answered musingly. "'That time of the month' … it must be frustrating to be--"

"Okay- okay, cut it out already!" the sorceress snapped. "For crying out loud, wasn't a thousand years among humans enough for you to learn that this subject is not something open to discussion--?!" She rolled her eyes. "Eh, who am I kidding, you do that on purpose. Well, don't think that I'm going to rely solely on your help; the restrictions stay the way they are."

"A wise decision." Xelloss' smile widened as he nodded in approval. "But what do you intend to do then?"

"Just watch," Lina said confidently, turned away from him, and shouted into the air, "So you're really the Nameless One?"

"_No, I'm not!_" came the enraged answer.

"Then tell us your name!" Her question was met with silence. "Well sorry, but if even you don't know, I think the title fits you really well, _Mr._ _Nameless_."

"_Stop it! I'm warning you--_"

"What's your problem?" she interrupted. "Maybe it sounds a bit too _empty_ for your tastes?"

"_No, no, no, NO!_"

"It looks like someone who is both _empty _and _nameless _is living in denial over here," Lina continued in a mocking tone. "Wait, did I say _living_? I guess that's not really appropriate. Could it be that a mazoku like you is really afraid of _destruction, _of all things?"

"That… wasn't a very good move, Lina-san," Xelloss winced. The sorceress glanced at him with surprised look.

"_You of all people have the least right to speak about destruction, Lina Inverse!_" the spirit boomed with such volume that she had stop her ears. "_There is one thing I remember clearly and will never forget, that you are the cause of all this! _You_ made me become what I am now, and I won't die until I had my revenge!!_"

The thundering voice was followed by a panicked female scream.

"Jane!" The sorceress spun around. The girl was on the ground writhing in agony, her hands flailing about as if she was trying to keep some invisible attacker from coming closer.

"_She is mine! I created her and I will be the one to destroy her!" _the Nameless One bellowed. "_And when we become one, you will face your worst nightmare!"_

"No! Stop it, please!" the young girl cried.

Lina ran to her and knelt down, attempting to restrain her hands. "Argh, I'm such an idiot!" she grunted. "I thought he was out of potential victims! Hey Jane, snap out of it!" She tried shaking her and even slapped her face a few times, but to no avail.

"It seems that Jane-san is facing the same situation we were in recently, only she is not faring that well." Xelloss noted, his smile disappearing. "This can be troublesome. The Nameless One probably confronted us in a weakened state, using only our own memories against us. If it manages to acquire her essence, we might not be able repel its onslaught so easily."

Realizing that there was nothing more she could do, Lina turned to the priest. "Xel, to hell with the contest; get her out of here _now_!"

"_Do that and she's dead!_" The voice laughed. "_Our spirits have become closely connected. If you try to take her body away or attempt to destroy me, her life will end here and now! Not that it matters, hahaha…" _

"I'm afraid that is the truth." The mazoku said reluctantly. "This swamp is the manifestation of its presence in this world, its beast form, you can say, and we're in the middle of it. Extracting Jane-san's soul from here would be all but impossible."

"His beast form?" Lina suddenly froze. "Wait, something is not right here. If the Nameless One is too weak currently to use anything but our own memories, how could he create this whole swamp before we or even Jean came here?"

"We've been told that others arrived here before her--" Xelloss trailed off in the middle of the sentence, and gazed at the scenery confused. "No, that would make even less sense. It could have absorbed them already and would not have to bother with her at all."

"And what if we've been lied to?" the sorceress asked as she wiped the sweat off Jane's forehead. The girl's panic seemed to diminish a little; instead of screaming, she merely kept mumbling to herself, but her face was still terrified and was getting paler by the second. "If all that stuff has just been said to drive us away, or the opposite, raise our curiosity and draw us here? That would not only explain everything, but the spirit would have an ally whose memories he can use." She looked at Xelloss again. "I think you know who I am talking about."

The priest's eyes opened in surprise. "An odd theory, but you could be right. And I think I know just the thing to test it fairly quickly." He raised his left hand, and small ripples began to appear in front of them, distorting the air as if it were a liquid.

"_What--What is this?" _The Nameless One sounded shocked.

"I was able to manipulate you projection through sheer willpower earlier." Xelloss' face became a mask of concentration, but he still couldn't forgo a smug smirk. "If I can tap into your other abilities as well, you will bring the person we want here yourself."

"_N-No, stop it!_"

The air before them trembled, and two figures materialized out of nowhere. The sorceress threw a half-smile in the newcomers' direction.

"Long time no see, Mr. Donkey-pal."

"Huh--? What… Where am I?" The middle aged merchant looked around, completely disoriented, while the pack donkey next to him let out a nervous bray. After a few moments, he recognized his surroundings and his faced became lined with fear. "Why did you bring me here?!" he shouted at the trees, pointing at Lina. "I did what you asked: I tried driving these adventurers away! It's not my fault they still came here! I haven't even slept for three days, what more do you want from me?!"

"_I didn't want to bring you here, you fool!_" the spirit shouted back at him.

"Quite true." The mazoku agreed in a dry tone. "We are the only ones who want something from you, and that can mostly be summarized into a single question: What deal did you make with the master of this place?" He regarded the merchant with an ominous look. "I suggest that you answer truthfully."

"He j-just asked if I knew what a swamp looked like, as most of the locals here have never seen one before!" the man sputtered. "He said he w-would grant any wish in return. I did not have any idea what he wanted with this!"

"Well now you do!" Lina marched up to him and yelled into his face. "If you don't call off the deal the girl will die!"

"I… just… W-Well people die all the time!" The merchant shouted back. "If I break the agreement, Martha will… she will--"

"Thanks." The sorceress smiled.

"W-What are you thanking me for?" The man blurted out, confused.

"For being such a total jerk." She grinned now. "This way I won't feel guilty at all when I do _this_!"

Lina punched the merchant in the face, breaking his nose. He staggered a few steps back until his spine hit the trunk of a tree, and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

An inarticulate shriek filled the air.

"_Noooo! I almost had you!_" the Nameless Once cried, its insane fury making the words barely comprehensible. The form of the entire swamp scenery, along with the trees, bogs, and even the fog and the earth itself lost its solidity, and appeared to melt for a moment, before evaporating into a brown-grayish mass of smoke, and finally dispersing into the air."_I _will_ get you, Lina Inverse! I swear, one day you'll be mine!"_

A sudden, chilly gust of wind smacked their backs, muting the echoes of the spirit's voice, and as the last traces of the swamp's illusion grew faint, the valley's lush green meadow appeared once again. Behind them, the last rays of the setting sun painted the horizon a beautiful red-orange hue.

The sorceress glanced to the side. Jane now breathed easily and evenly, and even showed signs of gradually regaining consciousness. As the wind quieted down a bit and the familiar sound of crickets replaced the swamp's previous dead silence, she slowly let out the breath she's unconsciously been holding.

"I was hoping for a friendly troll or two, but it seems we got more than we bargained for in the end," she said with a chuckle and sat down in the grass.

"There is nothing really wrong with such an unexpected challenge…" Xelloss commented as he lay down next to her and gazed up at the darkening sky, where the brightest stars were already visible. He hesitated on the last word. "--usually."

The sorceress looked at him pensively. Once again, like some many times in her life, she would have given up a lot of things to know exactly what was going through his head at that instant.

A shrill, female voice rang through Lina's head, shattering her thoughts. "You!!"

For an odd moment, she thought that perhaps the Nameless One had returned, but standing there instead was a stocky woman with graying hair and baggy, expensive looking clothes, who wasn't even yelling at them, but at the unconscious merchant on the ground. "Get up this instant Fenrick, or I'll make sure that you stay like this for good!"

The man's eyes snapped open immediately, and his expression became the very essence of panic.

"Ehe… H-Hello, dear… Martha, I can explain, really…" he stuttered, trying to scurry a bit farther away at his back from the woman, but she stuck to him like glue.

"Explain?!" she fumed. "I should be the one who'd need to explain things: Like how on earth could I have ever married such a despicable, insufferable piece of trash like you! Perhaps it would be better if I made myself a widow right now!"

That possibility obviously did not sit too well with the merchant, who finally jumped to his feet, and started running as fast as his feet would carry him towards the nearest hill.

"Come back here and take responsibility, Fenrick!" the woman screamed, and swiftly took pursuit.

The priest and sorceress watched the scene with a mixture of bafflement and hilarity on their faces.

"The donkey – it was the guy's wife?!" Lina suddenly found herself in an unstoppable fit of giggles.

"I don't quite comprehend his motivation," Xelloss said thoughtfully. "If he wanted to get rid of his wife, there surely were safer and more reliable methods to do so, and the Nameless One would have probably granted those as well. Or perhaps this was necessary in order to humiliate her?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so." With some effort, the sorceress collected herself enough to reply. "Remember how he talked to her when we first met? He was hollering at us, but never at her. I think the poor devil does love his wife in a way – he just wanted to be the one who called the shots for a change."

The mazoku shook his head. "This human emotion of love; just when I think I am fully able to grasp the concept, something like this happens which turns it upside down. At times like these I don't think I will ever be able to understand it at all."

"Funny thing for you to say, Xel." She winked at him. The priest pointedly ignored the comment and looked around, as if searching for something.

"Don't look now, Lina-san, but Jane-san is just about to leave the valley as well." He pointed with his staff into the distance.

"What?!" Lina spun around; the girl was indeed missing from the spot she saw her a minute ago.

"It seems she came to rather quickly and ungratefully decided it would be safer for her to be a bit farther away from us." Xelloss said, sounding amused.

"That unappreciative twit!" the sorceress punched the air in frustration.

"Should we go after her?"

Lina looked to be torn between anger and fatigue for a moment, before she dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "Let's just forget about her," she said irritably. "I think she's gone through more than enough to learn her lesson."

She tried to make out the girl's form in the direction the mazoku was pointing, but it was getting too dark for a human to see anything that far away. Xelloss must have used his astral senses to locate her, she realized, which in turn caused another topic to come into mind. "So, about the contest," she turned back to the mazoku, "I guess it's a draw, right? We did 'leave' the swamp together after all."

"Yes, I suppose you can say that." The priest's staff popped out of existence, allowing him to cross his arms. "A draw yet again. Did you ever wonder, Lina-san, about why do our contests almost always end up in a draw?" he asked quizzically.

"Beats me." The sorceress shrugged, and jokingly patted him on the back. "But hey, if you think about it, it wouldn't be as fun if we knew in advance who's supposed to be better, right?"

"True indeed." Xelloss shared a knowing smile, and stood. "So then, should we be on our way too, or would you prefer to spend the night here?"

"No, we should go; I need to get my hand treated. I won't be able to cast Recovery for at least another day." Lina looked at her right palm, which was still bleeding heavily. She hadn't yet had the time to put even a makeshift bandage on it. _Might as well do it now._ She tried standing up to get the necessary supplies out of her cloak, but found that her legs could barely support her weight. Xelloss caught her by her shoulder just before she fell back.

"Thanks, Xel." said the sorceress, leaning on his companion for support. "I think I lost more blood than I thought."

"In that case," keeping Lina on her feet with his right, the mazoku gestured towards the horizon with his free left hand, "I do know a shortcut to the nearest inn." he offered. "And in return--"

"In return you can spend the rest of the night in the company of a beautiful sorcery genius like me," she interrupted with an impish smile. "Last offer, no bargaining."

"Always the strict businesswoman I see." Xelloss chuckled, and the pair disappeared, leaving the picturesque landscape of Man's End behind.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a different place, not to mention on a different plane of existence, two giants stood face to face. While in reality, they could not have been farther away – both took extensive precautions because of the impossible nature of such a meeting – they saw each other clearly, and both waited for the other to speak, and bring things to a close.

Seconds, minutes, perhaps even hours passed; negligible time for those who measured it on the scale of centuries, if at all, but still grating for both sides. Neither of them desired to be the first to talk, knowing the stakes at hand: The outcome of this negotiation could change the world forever.

It was the being of chaos that first lost his patience.

"Well, out with it! Do we have an agreement?"

The other, his antithesis in almost all mortal terms, stayed silent. This silence was different though. It was even heavier, weighted down by the magnitude of the choice.

Finally, the being of order let out a mental equivalent of a sigh, ridding herself of her remaining doubts in the process.

"It has to be done." she said, her voice resolute. "As you said, we have an agreement."

His smile was one of victory.

"Very well, then. You know what to do."

And with that the meeting was over, the participants disappeared from each other's view, going their separate ways, while the world slept unaware of the terrible consequences their deal had in store. Their ignorance would not last long, however.

_To be continued…_

_-o-_

**Author's notes:**

Sorry for the lateness everyone, I had to learn the hard way that release schedules are not my forte - and I have similar problems with the predicting the chapter size too. ;) I can only say that the next one will probably come out in the current year - maybe? :)

Again, my biggest thanks goes to _Kaeru Shisho_ for beta reading and general encouragement. :) Many thanks to all the people who reviewed the previous chapter too. I truly feel honored, and your feedback does mean a lot.

This chapter also contained one thing many of you might have found strange: Xelloss' reaction to one of Lina's particularly painful attacks. :) I am working with the assumption in this fic that Xelloss (unlike most mazoku) creates a completely lifelike human body to move around in – this has its advantages, but it also has apparent drawbacks. Here, he didn't feel pain in the strictest sense; his body simply refused to cooperate, and because of the contest rules he wasn't allowed to fix it.

_Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Until next time! :)_


	3. Happily Ever After, part 1

**Chapter 3****. Happily Ever After – Part 1.**

It was a warm summer night. A light, pleasant breeze blew through the plains of Lyzeille, easing the sultriness in the air. It was the time of the year when people travelling the road had a lot less to worry about when it came to a place to spend the night: without even the necessity of starting a campfire, the green grass next to the road seemed almost as inviting as an inn bed for the less prosperous – or for the greedy.

Lina Inverse was never truly among the former group, but boasted a lifetime membership of the latter – and so, even though Atlas City was only a few hours away on foot, she opted to take the night's rest in a small, secluded grove surrounded by cherry trees not far from the highway. Her sleeping form was almost invisible in the tall grass, if not for her earrings, which the stars and the full moon flooded with silvery light from the clear sky above, and their glitter could be seen from dozens of feet away. Not that she seemed to be welcoming the attention of these celestial bodies or anyone else: Snoring disapprovingly, she tussled and turned under the blanket, ever so often kicking into the man who lay next to her.

"…I'm telling you people," a faint murmur escaped her lips, "if we fight to lose, then we'll lose… Even if we had a one percent chance to beat Ruby Eye, it would become a… eh, never mind that, let's eat some cake…" She flailed her arms, as if trying to grab a giant piece of pastry in front of her, almost poking her travelling companion in the eye.

Her movements never managed to wake Xelloss though, especially since the priest wasn't really asleep. While his human form looked pretty much so to any unwary animal or bandit that might have approached (and indeed, luring them into a false sense of security was part of the idea), his mind, to which sleep was a completely foreign thought, wandered through the astral landscape, most likely looking for something interesting nearby to amuse himself with for the night.

Unfortunately for him, the countryside was not exactly filled with opportunities at such an hour, and the city was too far away to visit without making his body disappear – all the more eager he was to turn his attention to the approaching wagon that sped into his field of astral vision, its wheels rattling in protest of the hazardous pace that the coachman desperately tried to force on the two horses. It was obvious that he was being pursued, and after a few moments it also became clear by whom: several men on horseback appeared not far behind the wagon, waving swords and torches in the air, steadily gaining on the distance.

An intense jolt of panic flashed through the realm of spiritual existence as the coachman, an older man in his fifties perhaps, glanced back and realized how small the lead separating him from his attackers has gotten. His fear distracted him long enough not to see the sizable cavity before him on the poorly lit road, and as the tearing wagon ran across it, one of the front wheels cracked and broke. The vehicle lurched to the side, and then was turned upside down by the momentum, dragging the agonizedly neighing horses with it. It spun around uncontrollably several times as it veered off the road, before smashing into nearby huge tree, where it finally stopped, broken to pieces.

The pursuers halted as well and regarded the wreckage; they did not bother approaching it though, and after a few moments they turned around and took off, disappearing into the night. They could not see what Xelloss saw: somewhere, trapped between the broken wagon and the tree, a tiny astral flame belonging to a human soul still flickered, defiant of its fate.

* * *

"Lina-san."

The sorceress heard her name uttered from behind the veil of dreams, dissipating her strange vision about a birthday party with orange dancing penguins.

_Aw, __I barely started eating the cake…_

"Ummh… What is it, Xel?" she asked woozily as she rubbed her eyes. "It's still in the middle of the night; humans need to get some sleep you know." She turned to the side to look at the priest. "You don't need to stay here like this if it bores you out of your mi--" Her sentence broke in half as she realized the mazoku was not where she thought him to be: the bedroll next to her was empty, but she also noticed a Xelloss-shaped black figure blocking out the light of the moon and the stars a couple of steps away.

"LIGHTING," Lina whispered; the lack of illumination suddenly becoming disturbing to her. The shining sphere bathed the grove in a cold bluish light. "Did something happen?" she questioned the priest, now sounding completely awake.

As usual, the mazoku's smile was impossible to decipher. "Nothing major," he answered and leaned forward to show what, the sorceress just noticed, he looked to be carrying in his arms. "I simply thought you might be interested in this."

Her first odd thought was that it was some kind of a marionette doll; with one of its arms bent in an unnatural angle, it rested in Xelloss' hands with its eyes closed, its face impassive and pale. But just a second later, it gave a tiny moan, and Lina had to realize to her horror that she was looking at a real brown-haired girl less than five years old, her home-made dress torn and stained with red, apparently severely injured.

"Damn!" She gasped. "Quickly, put her down here!"

Xelloss did as he was told, and lay the child down on his bedroll gently. The sorceress swiftly checked her over, her face becoming more troubled with every passing moment.

"She's got a couple of nasty bruises," she murmured. "Broke at least three bones too, maybe more, and then there are the injuries I _can't_ see." She shook her head, looking frustrated. "I cannot risk casting Recovery on her; she's too young and too badly hurt. We have to take her to a priest in the city right now!"

Scooping the girl up into her arms, she faced north where Atlas City lay behind the dark line of the forest.

"Do you plan to leave right away?" the priest asked. "It should not take more than fifteen minutes to get there if you really make haste, but--"

"Right, let's go! RAY WING!" Lina cut him off and took into the air.

Xelloss hesitantly glanced at their former resting place, then shrugged and quickly followed suit.

* * *

The Temple of Flarelord in Atlas City had seen better days. It was a monumental structure, rich with ornaments, statues and other decorations, but time has not been kind to them, and their worn stone surfaces just made the building even scarier-looking during the night.

Behind the iron-laden double doors of the entrance, Officius Petrakos, the temple's sole priest and caretaker paced the great liturgical hall, unable to sleep. The precursors of what is to come have manifested days ago: It was merely a troubled feeling a first, without direct cause or object, a feeling that something important, something terrible would happen soon. But tonight it grew worse. While sleep evaded him, he felt as if he was dreaming while awake, if only for seconds. Images flashed before his eyes at irregular intervals: Gold clashing with black, the symbol of black magic covering the white magic hexagram, a scarlet sword parried by a wooden staff. They felt completely foreign, holding no meaning to him, and he was getting more and more desperate to learn something, anything about their origin.

In a habitual gesture of frustration, he ran a hand through his gray hair, once again noting with a wry smile that he did not have much left for such a purpose. It was more than a thousand-year-old legend that the priests of Flarelord Vrabazard sometimes received visions of future events from the God of Flames. While the tale was old, it did not seem entirely impossible, as of the four gods, the power of prophecy was indeed attributed to her. After the barrier of the mazoku fell many years ago, there were reports that this unique blessing had returned; still, Officius never met any of his fellows who could defend this rumor. Now, he could only think of two possible explanations: either it was really happening to him, or his sickness reached the stage when it began to cloud his mind.

A violent knock on the temple doors interrupted his ruminations. He turned towards the sound worriedly; any visits this late at night were unusual and possibly dangerous, and he was in no condition to deal with muggers.

"Why this place, Lina-san?" he heard a male voice say from the outside. "There should be a lot more priests at the Temple of Ceiphied."

"Yeah, plenty of priests whose magic education ended somewhere around tying their shoelaces," an impatient female voice answered. "This guy's got a good reputation as a healer in these parts."

Officius closed his eyes, his mind made up. If these people were looking for healing, he could not reject them. He took an uneasy step towards the entrance-- and felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck him. Suddenly it all became clear: who his visitors were, what they wanted and also what he must do. He rushed to remove the physical and magical locks, and swung the doors open.

"Bring the child to the guest room, please," he instructed the man standing in the doorway. "It's the second door to the right if you go through the opening behind the altar."

The man, also dressed in a priest's clothing, raised his eyebrows in surprise. "My goodness, this place has much better surveillance magic than I thought," he said, stepping into the temple. Officius stared into the darkness outside, but could not see anyone else.

"Where is your wife?" he asked the man.

"You mean Lina-san? She is behind that tree over there." The reply came in an amused tone. "She does not consider herself to be… presentable right now."

"Oh, shut up Xelloss, it's not like _I_ can dress up with a thought!" The irritable yell did come from behind one of the trees of the park which surrounded the temple. "Instead of making funny comments, you could have at least brought my gear with you!"

"Your gear?" the man called Xelloss repeated, as if the idea presented by the woman was well into the realm of impossibility. Then he let out a soft chuckle. "Actually, I did."

The moment the words left his mouth, Officius heard the sound of several smaller objects hitting the grass next to the tree.

"Now, could you lead the way to the guest room?" the other priest continued. "You can leave the doors open for a while; I'm sure Lina-san will be joining us shortly, and I would certainly pity any criminal who would try to rob the temple in the meantime."

"O-Of course, follow me." A bit perplexed, the old man turned around and started heading towards the altar at the other end of the hall.

As amazing as the prophecy was, he realized, it did leave out a number of strange details.

* * *

The lieutenant could not help but shudder as he entered the dimly lit hall. Not wanting to spare even another glance towards the line of glimmering armors, hanging weapons and trophies which decorated the walls, he quickly made his way to the giant armchair and knelt before the sitting figure covered in pitch black plate armor.

"The room's got a nice scary atmosphere, doesn't it?" the armored figure asked in a low, rich voice, sounding pleased.

"Actually my Lord, it doesn't." The man adjusted his eye patch, looking flustered. "I'm sorry, but of all the people that have hired me in the past, your headquarters are the least frightening."

An amused snort escaped the black helmet. "Hah, you think you can hide your fear from me? When you came in, I've seen you shudder in terror. Don't you dare to think that such things can escape the notice of the Baron of Evil!"

The lieutenant, whose eyes were cast down to the floor thus far, suddenly looked up, his face both annoyed and tired. "My Lord, I shuddered because I've found the head of a _pink plush unicorn _among those trophies on the wall!" He paused to see if his master gave any reaction; he did not, which apparently made him even more frustrated. "It is indecent in my profession to have fits of laughter in front of my employer, but you're a pushing my willpower to the limits! If I think about the fact that I'm signed up to serve you for a whole month, the prospect feels almost… frightening."

"You see, that is exactly what I've been talking about," the self-titled Baron of Evil nodded. "There is no shame in showing your fear; my palace was designed to scare all kinds of people." He gestured his subordinate to rise. "Now tell me, did you successfully complete the mission I've tasked you with?"

A hint of a smirk appeared on the lieutenant's face; appreciating the change of subject. "Of course, my Lord. We've pursued the target as it tried to take refuge in Atlas City. There wasn't even any need to dirty our hands: the old idiot crashed his own wagon into a tree. Even if the girl survived somehow, there is no way she will reach Karthon in time--"

"What?!" Enraged, the armored figure bolted from his seat. "You mean you did not bring her here?!"

"N-No my Lord, I thought--"

"Don't you understand?! She is the most important piece of my plan, everything else is just smoke screen!" he bellowed. "Get your men and go back! And you better pray that she is still alive!"

"Forgive me my Lord, it will be done right away." the lieutenant saluted dejectedly, and quickly left the room. On his way out, his gaze inadvertently fell on the pink unicorn trophy on the wall, and he could not help but shudder once again.

* * *

Lina watched in awe as Officius' palm gently rested on the last small wound on the little girl's forearm. After a few seconds, he raised his hand, and the injury was no longer there, it disappeared like it never was to begin with.

_The rumors weren't exaggerating; this guy really knows his stuff. He wields the Resurrection spell's energy like it's __his third hand!_

"There." A bit out of breath, the priest of Flarelord plopped down to a chair next to guest room's bed, not far from where the priest and the sorceress were sitting. "The spell will need a bit more time to mend her bones, but don't worry, your child is no longer in any danger."

"Thank you, Priest Officius." Lina smiled gratefully. "You do know a thing or two about healing spe-- 'our child'?"

"Well, you _are_ her parents, are you not?" the old man said more as a statement than a question. The sorceress unwittingly glanced at Xelloss, who just flashed her an annoying smile.

"For some reason he believes we're married, you see," he said with a shrug.

"Ehm, no," Lina shook her head. "And don't say another word," she warned the priest dourly, who looked to be keen on adding further comments to the subject.

"That is most strange; I could have sworn that you were." Officius knitted his brows in confusion. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure I'm sure!" Lina snapped with colored cheeks, jumping to her feet. "Which one of us should know that better, hm?!"

"Of course, forgive me," the old man said defensively. "It was just an intuition of sorts; forget that I said anything."

The sorceress folded her arms and turned around to face the mazoku once more.

"So Xelloss, with the emergency out of the way, could you perhaps clue us in on _what_ happened out there?" she asked, her voice still sounding stern from her previous outburst.

"It was quite an unusual scene, Lina-san," the priest smiled thoughtfully, eyeing the girl's sleeping form. "She was travelling in a wagon with an older man – not likely her relative, as her clothes are a lot plainer than his were – which was pursued by several men, bandits at first glance."

"They didn't manage to get away it seems," the sorceress noted, her expression troubled.

"Indeed, but before you inevitably ask, even if I've woken you up the moment I became aware of this, it would not have changed a thing: the wagon quickly became uncontrollable and crashed into a large tree." Xelloss took a slow breath; accustomed to his speech patterns, Lina knew it meant that he was about to explain what really intrigued him in the episode. "Their pursuers stopped and surveyed the vehicle, and then left without doing anything else. If they were bandits, I'm sure they would have searched it for anything valuable, while if they were assassins sent to kill the passengers, they would have made sure that they were both dead. But instead, the men seemed to be content with the mere fact that they greatly hampered their quarry's efforts to reach whatever destination they were heading to."

"And you want to know what the attackers' plans were?" Lina asked, her tone noticeably skeptical.

"To be completely honest, I am not really interested in such a trivial affair." Xelloss shrugged, before turning to the sorceress with a grin. "But I thought _you_ might be."

"Maybe I am," she said, returning the smile. "Plus, men like those are usually motivated by money, so perhaps there'll be a bit of coin in it for me, too."

"Not to complain, Lina-san," the priest chuckled, "but your attempts at backing your altruistic acts with claims of financial gain are getting more and more transparent, if also highly amusing."

"Pardon my interruption," Officius stood and stepped closer to the pair to join the conversation, forestalling a particularly nasty comeback from the sorceress. "A wealthy nobleman did pass away recently in the village of Karthon, a few days east of Sairaag. I sadly don't know his name, but I do remember that he has no known relatives, and his fortune will be split between several local guilds if a descendant does not show up soon to claim the inheritance." Both the sorceress and her companion stared at him with a look of surprise on their faces. "It's just an idea of course," he added quickly, "it might have nothing to do with this."

"My, for a humble priest of Flarelord, you are pretty well-informed in such matters, Officius-san," the mazoku remarked good-naturedly.

"Well, I do hear a few things from here and there." The old man nodded, pretending not to notice the question hidden behind the priest's words.

"No matter how we look at it, that's the only lead we have for the moment, so we have to check it out," Lina asserted, suppressing a yawn. "But that can wait until morning; we already bothered our benefactor far too much for tonight. Can she be moved safely now?" she asked, glancing at the bed.

"Yes, she just shouldn't run around for a few more hours." Officius carefully lifted the girl and put her into the sorceress' arms. "And you didn't bother me at all, I was glad to help."

They left the guest room and began to walk through the liturgical hall. Only now finding the time to look around carefully, Lina noticed how out of kilter it was, even more so than from the outside; Officius was visibly making a big effort just to keep things from falling apart.

_Speaking of which--_

"I meant to ask earlier," she addressed the old man, "where did you learn to cast white magic with such skill?"

"You overestimate my expertise," the priest of Flarelord protested humbly. "Healing spells are the only area where I show some ability, and after having the opportunity to learn from the best mages of this field, that should only be expected."

"You learned from the best healers? Wow, you have some pretty good connections then," Lina commented.

"You misunderstand," Officius smiled at the sorceress' words which sounded more like a half-accusation. "My faithful paid them for their time, even though I told them that we should renovate the building from the money instead. The temple doesn't flourish the way it used to, before the priests of Ceiphied became this popular in the city. Saillune's influence on us is becoming troubling."

"And why was this so important?" Xelloss asked, not allowing him to change the subject.

Arriving to the temple doors, Officius turned his back to them with a sigh, and began opening the locks once more. "You see, I suffer from some kind of exotic illness. Strange seizures come upon me at times, accompanied by extreme pain, and they've gotten increasingly frequent lately. None of the healers I've met know what it is, and no magic seems to affect it in any way."

The other two fell silent for a few moments, while the old priest finished his work with the locks and opened one of the doors.

"Sorry to bring it up," Lina said finally, "it was really none of our business."

"Don't be," Officius turned away from the door; his calm, serene face was lit by the light of the moon and the stars, giving it a strange otherworldly feel. "There is truly no reason to fear death if you live your life without regrets. I've already accepted my fate; when my time comes, I will gladly join my god in a peaceful rest – I only wish more people would think the same way."

As Lina said her goodbyes and left the temple, she could not keep her mind from mulling on how much truth were in those words, and how uneasy they made her feel regardless.

* * *

What then happened would have taken by many mortals as a sure sign of the end of the world, if they have been aware of it. They would have screamed in terror as Lina Inverse, the stingy businesswoman to the end, who almost spent the night camping, marched into the most expensive inn of the city, woke the owners and rented a room. They would have scurried under their beds, covering in fear as she picked out the most expensive two-bed suite, and their belief that the universe had gone off its hinges would have been cemented by the fact that she even paid the staff extra to clean it up out of turn and replace all the sheets, just to make sure that the whole room was squeaky clean.

Thankfully, the only person to know the specifics of these horrific events was Xelloss, who, being a witness to a number of odd things in his lifetime, merely raised a curious eyebrow.

"I must say, Lina-san," he spoke while leaning against one of their room's expensive-looking dressers, "that while I have been aware of the maternal instincts such a situation might bring forth in a human woman, you reaction…" He looked around the room once more, sizing up the carpets, the ebony furniture and the spectacular chandelier. "…goes well beyond my expectations."

"You should have visited us more often when I was with my kids then," Lina said softly as she tucked the still unconscious girl under the silky covers of the bed, "I guess if I didn't have a soft spot for children, I would've gone crazy having so many of them." She turned around and playfully flicked a strand of hair away from Xelloss' face. "But no, I wasn't spoiling them, that was Gourry's job. Well, unless," she added in a more serious tone, "they nearly died in an accident and were about to wake up in a room full of strangers. _That_ warrants a little bit of spoiling I think."

Lina glanced at the second bed on the other side of the room; it looked inviting, but while her body would have welcomed the rest, her mind was reeling with countless thoughts. With somewhat aimless steps, she wandered out to the balcony, and gazed at the panoramic view of the Atlas City skyline.

"While we are at the accident," the mazoku spoke again after a moment, following her out of the room, "what do you think of our selfless, helpful, admirable martyr of a priest?"

"You don't like him very much, do you?" The sorceress made a face. "Sure, he was suspicious; he looked like he knew we were coming, and conveniently presented us news about a distant village which did not sound nearly as interesting as a rumor to reach these circles of the city. But still," she shook her head, "he had to know that if he lied to us, we would find out right away when the kid wakes up. All in all, I think he's either a very good actor, or he's really not the type to purposely mislead and delude others." With a smirk, she shot a meaningful look at the priest.

…_unlike some people I know._

"Perhaps he isn't, but that's not the real problem. I, after all, greatly enjoy the company of people who others might deem suspicious or even dangerous, Lina-san." Xelloss smiled, shooting a meaningful look right back. "It has more to do with--" he trailed off as a faint voice could be heard coming from inside.

_Uh-oh._

"It looks like she woke up already," Lina winced. "Alright, let's get this over with." She stepped back into the room from the balcony, yanking the priest by his cloak with her. The child was indeed awake; she sat in bed, staring at them with wide blue eyes, her expression one of confusion. The sorceress pulled Xelloss close and whispered into his ear: "Listen, just wear your usual 'harmless priest' looks and act naturally. She'll be scared for sure and we cannot avoid a bit of drama, but we can at least shorten it if we give off a friendly impression."

"That sounds easy enough," the mazoku whispered back, nodding. As Lina let go of his cloak, he turned to the girl with a big grin on his face, and bowed politely. "Greetings, young one. I am Xelloss, a humble priest by occupation, and this is Lina-san, a capable sorceress if I do say so myself. It is a true pleasure to meet you; I sincerely hope our time spent together will be mutually enjoyable and benefi--"

The sorceress grabbed him again, this time in a more strangling fashion by his neck collar.

"What the heck are you doing?!" If it was possible for someone to yell while whispering, then Lina was doing exactly that. "Drop the formalities! This is a kid, for Ruby Eye's sake, not the Eternal Queen of Zephilia! You're just making things worse!"

"But you were the one who told me to act naturally!" Xelloss complained.

The sorceress hid her face behind her palm. "Gah, just follow my lead then, got it?! Khm--" she cleared her throat, and, to the mazoku's bewilderment, her voice jumped almost an octave as she addressed the girl, "Hi, I'm Lina. What's your name?"

The child did not answer; she kept staring at the pair in exactly the same position ever since they entered the room. A drop of sweat rolled off Lina's forehead.

_This is so not going to work.__ She probably thinks we're some kind of scary lunatics by now…_

Suddenly, the girl raised her right hand from under the covers, and pointed straight at the sorceress.

"You look just like my grandma!" she exclaimed in a high, bubbly voice.

"Huh--?!"

Lina quickly glanced at the large, golden-framed mirror hanging on the wall. She looked the same: no wrinkles, no gray locks or anything else which could possibly lead to her being identified as someone's grandmother.

_I don't __know whether I should feel touched or insulted…_

"My name is Nellie," the little girl continued unsurely, answering the sorceress' question. "Are you my grandma too?"

"I, uh--" The sorceress tried hard to think of a way to sidestep the topic, when an idea formed in her mind.

_Hey, w__hy not? This will make things so much easier!_

"Of course I am your grandma!" she grinned. "And this is, uhm, Uncle Xelloss!" she pointed at the priest over her shoulder.

"Uncle…?" the priest in question looked baffled, but Lina Lina paid him no mind.

"Wow, I didn't know I had another one…" the little girl muttered as she continued to study the sorceress' features. As her eyes drifted to the priest however, her face lit up. "But Uncle Xelloss looks funny!"

"Say, Nellie dear," Lina stepped closer to the bed and crouched down to get to the same eye level as her, "can you tell your grandma where you were travelling to today?"

"We were going to visit my other granny in Karthon," came the enthusiastic reply. "She always has lots of magic things in her shop there! Can you do magic too, Grandma Lina?"

"LIGHTING." With a flick of her hand, the sorceress made a glowing blue orb appear in front of Nellie, who gasped in awe and tried repeatedly to touch the immaterial sphere. "So Officius really told us the truth," she said, turning to Xelloss. "But why couldn't he tell us where he knew this from?"

"What did she mean by 'funny'?" staring at the child confused, the mazoku did not seem to hear the question.

"Xel, _hello_, your default looks are those of a fruit bowl-headed goofball with a silly smile, what did you expect?" the sorceress answered impatiently. "Can we get back on topic here?"

"O-Of course," the priest said quickly, like someone who's been caught dozing off. "One possible explanation is that he is also involved in the events somehow, or perhaps he might've simply thought that we would not believe him." His gaze fell back on to the girl. "But the way she said 'funny' – there was something in it which I found strangely unsettling."

"Either way, we're going to have a little more chat with Officius in the morning," asserted the sorceress, not wanting to get involved in the mazoku's odd ruminations any further.

"This is so cool…" The little girl was meanwhile still preoccupied with the shining ball of light. "The guy mom hired to take me to grandma doesn't like spells, but he's wrong, right? Hey," she looked around in the room once more, "where is he right now?"

"I'm afraid he won't be able to take you along after today," Lina ruffled the girl's hair, a hint of sadness lingering in her voice. "But don't worry; we'll get you to Karthon. And if someone stands in our way, this is going to happen to them."

The light sphere exploded in a silent, sparkling, if entirely harmless burst, making Nellie erupt in a fit of giggles. The sorceress chuckled with her; the only person in the room not to share the cheer was Xelloss, who continued to stare at the child befuddled, as if he had seen a ghost.

* * *

Pulling aside the curtains of his bedroom window, Officius looked at the rising sun as it slowly ascended from behind the jagged line drawn by the rooftops of the city, feeling careworn and bone weary.

He did not manage to sleep a single moment that night. He had received a prophecy from the Flarelord herself, of that he was now certain, and with it he was able to help save a young girl's life and aid those who took care of her, but for some infuriating reason, the relief he thought he would feel afterwards did not come. The sporadic visions stopped after the revelation, but in many ways the silence that came in their wake was even worse: it was like the calm before the storm, a small peaceful prelude to tragedy. Officius found himself wishing for anything, even another seizure, to break the suffocating monotony of the hours, minutes and seconds that crawled by at a snail's pace, but no such distraction came to his aid.

Now, as the reborn sun's rays dispelled the darkness, and with it his last miniscule hopes of getting any rest, the priest of Flarelord was duly fed up with everything. Dressed in his bright red priest garb, he stormed through the temple halls, opened the doors and stepped out into the huge garden. He strode along one of the paths with large steps, determined to either keep walking in the morning haze until the troubling feeling leaves him, or until he collapses from exhaustion, whichever came first.

Little did he know that there actually was a third possibility, which would manifest itself just a minute later.

At first he did not even think that he was seeing a person: a hundred feet ahead, a bit off the path, next to a bed of roses stood a glowing _thing_, bathed in sunlight – and at the same time it not only reflected, but amplified the sun's radiance. Only after approaching it did Officius realize that the source of that radiation was a suit of metal armor. It looked to be steel, but with the noteworthy difference that it glowed the same hot red hue as in the forge. When the priest left the path to walk directly towards the mesmerizing sight, the wearer's person was also revealed: A stunningly beautiful woman of indiscernible age, with long blond hair that disappeared behind her armor – her hair color seemed to be strangely inconsistent though, with streaks of orange and blue randomly appearing and disappearing between her flowing locks. Officius never saw anyone like her in his entire life; it was obvious that she did not belong to the mortal world, but it never occurred to the priest even for a moment that she would be dangerous or threatening.

"G-Good morning, lady," as he approached the stranger as close as his legs would carry him, Officius uttered a faint greeting, silently berating himself; he did not feel so flustered in the presence of a woman ever since he was a teenager.

She slowly turned her head in his direction; as the priest felt her coal black eyes meet his, gravity seemingly multiplied itself several times, almost brining him to his knees; he felt naked and helpless, as if those eyes could see into the deepest corners of his soul.

And yet, he still wasn't afraid. Perhaps she noticed this as well, as her scarlet lips curved into a small smile.

"Good morning, my priest," she returned the greeting. She spoke in a strangely low register, like the humming of the flames inside a furnace.

Officius tried hard to fight against the very same sensation he craved for hours before, but quickly lost, and fainted.

* * *

"Would you like some Fireball Crackers, madam?"

Not appreciative of anyone interrupting her breakfast, Lina lowered her eighth bowl of cereal to glare at the young woman in front of her. The basket in her hand was filled with some odd-looking orange colored cookies, and for reasons completely beyond the sorcerer's imagination, she looked to be wearing a huge red mushroom on her head as a hat.

"_What_ crackers?" the question slipped out of Lina's mouth. She immediately realized it was a bad idea; the mushroom-girl apparently thought that she was actually interested in her wares and began an utterly boring and transparent explanation about carefully chosen ingredients and secret recipes.

"…and all this is available for a limited time only while the festival is taking place here in Atlas City! So get them while you can! It's only five coppers a piece!"

While the sorceress attempted to appear as the embodiment of disinterest during it all, the last sentence did make her drop her bowl to the table.

"_Five_ coppers?!" she yelled, outraged. "For _one single_ cookie?! Why don't you just try robbing me instead! Get out of here missy, before I teach you a lesson about--"

"Let's buy some, Grandma Lina! Pretty please, pretty please!"

Lina threw a sidelong glance at the chair next to her: Nellie was at her third bowl of cereal; with her age that was an appetite comparable to her own. _Her technique could use some work though_, the sorceress thought absent-mindedly; while she spent years to devise the perfect method for maximum cleanness and efficiency, the little girl's face was now entirely covered with milk and crumbs.

"Sorry sweetheart, but the price of this stuff makes our lodging charges look like a bargain," Lina stated matter-of-factly. "And don't bother with those puppy dog eyes; perhaps they would have worked on me eighty years ago, but I'm already--"

"Pleeeaase!"

_Eh__, maybe I'm not as immune as I thought. Things were so much easier when the kids tried to wheedle everything from Gourry and my job was just to say 'no'!_

"You do realize, Lina-san," Xelloss joined the conversation from the other end of the table, calmly sipping his tea, "that putting the cost of our room aside, the money we will pay for this meal alone is actually quite comparable to the price of those cookies. You are simply not accustomed to the level of hedonism a place like this requires."

"Yep, yep!" Nellie agreed vehemently, even though the sorceress was quite sure she had no idea what 'hedonism' meant.

_Conspiring against me, are you?_

"Nellie, it looks like Uncle Xelloss would be more than happy to spend some of his _own_ money." Lina grinned mischievously. "I think you should ask him instead."

"Me--?" the priest blinked.

"Uncle Xelloss, please-please-please--!"

"Now just a minute," Xelloss raised a hand to silence the girl; oddly enough it worked. "Tell me _one_ good reason why I should buy any of those."

"Because they look yummy!"

"A pretty good reason if you ask me, Xel." the sorceress' voice basically dripped of glee. "It also goes really well with 'the level of hedonism a place like this requires', too."

"Point taken. I would like twenty of those cookies, please," said the mazoku, seemingly giving up on the argument – but then he added: "It would be unseemly of me not to help out a poor penniless grandmother like you, Lina-san, after all."

The grin quickly disappeared from the sorceress' face.

_Grr__, I hate it when he gets the last word like that._

The rest of the breakfast was spent in relative peace. After paying for the meal (Lina gave her purse to Xelloss to pay in her place, as she preferred not having to look at the bill – naturally though, she could not resist counting her remaining money afterwards), they retreated to their room to decide their next move.

"When do you suppose we should leave town towards Karthon then?" the priest asked Lina while he closed the door behind them.

"Soon, but I want to check out something first," said the sorceress. She retrieved her cloak from the chair near her bed and secured it to her shoulder guards. "I need to go back to the crash site to see if I can find any clues Nellie didn't know of, especially about the attackers. Keep an eye on her while I'm away, okay?" The mazoku looked at her questioningly after her last sentence. "Hey, we obviously can't leave her alone. Of course, it's fine by me if we switch places and you do something worthwhile for a change," she added with a smirk. A few silent moments passed. "No? Big surprise here." She turned around and began walking in the direction of the balcony.

"Be sure to visit Officius-san as well!" Xelloss called after her cheerfully.

"Sure thing," Lina gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll be back in half an hour or so. Be a good girl until then, Nellie! RAY WING!" With the wind barrier appearing around her, she took off from the balcony into the sky.

"Wow, Grandma Lina can fly!" the little girl squealed in awe, watching her disappear from view. "My other grandma can't do that on her own! She always uses her magic things for this stuff!"

"Lina-san is capable of a lot more than that, I assure you." The mazoku waved his hand dismissively. "But right now, we have more important things to talk about. Babysitting is hardly within my job description, but--" his smile went from cheerful to unnerving in an instant, "--I am actually grateful that we are given a bit of private time."

"Really? What do you want to talk about, Uncle Xelloss?" Nellie asked innocently. "Oh, I know! You want to say that you are a big demon from the… the big demon-city who wants to eat me!"

Caught unprepared, Xelloss stared wide-eyed at the girl.

"No, that was, uhm, not among my immediate plans. But how do you know about my identity??"

"Or if you don't like that," she continued without paying attention, "we can say that_ I_ am the big demon from the big demon city who--"

"I want to say no such thing," the priest interrupted, his voice uncharacteristically stern. "I'd simply like to see some of my questions answered; that is all."

"Nnn, but I wanted to play demon hunter...!" the little girl pouted. "Hey, I let you be the hero if you want to," she offered, trying to tempt the mazoku into playing, with limited success.

"Sorry, but I think I'll pass. Wait, did you say demon hunter?" Suddenly, an amount of his usual cheerfulness returned. "Someone like Gilford in the legend of the Pools of Overflowing Blood?"

"No, like Lily the demon-hunting fairy princess! But the other sounds cool too!"

"'Cool', you say? We shall see about that," Xelloss chuckled rather diabolically. "But let's start with something slightly less serious at first, a favorite of mine, actually. Would you like to hear the tale of Mina the Sorceress, Nellie-chan?"

"Yay, I love fairy tales!" Nellie jumped into the air.

"I'll take that as a yes." His confident smile back in place, the mazoku sat down cross legged on the expensive carpet covering the inn room's floor. The girl quickly followed his example, and expectantly waited for him to begin. "Now how was it again? Ah, yes. Once upon a time, there lived a merchant who had two beautiful daughters, named Mina and Nina."

Xelloss raised his right hand, palm upwards, as if offering something to Nellie. Two small ghostly figures appeared, seemingly standing on his palm: One of them looked a lot like Lina, but had a different haircut, slightly altered clothes and a more developed figure, while the other one was an equally young looking woman with long blond hair, who dressed in the white garb of a priestess, and wore two strange orb-like pieces of jewelry that covered most of her elf-like pointy ears.

"You can do magic too, Uncle Xelloss…?" Nellie whispered, as she gazed mesmerized at the illusion.

"The older one, Nina, was so beautiful in fact that even the Evil Overlord, who lived in the mountains with his diabolical army, became interested in her and wished to take her as his wife," the priest continued. "One day, when Nina was out buying food at the marketplace, the troll servants of the Overlord appeared, quickly bound her arms and legs before she could even blink, and thus capturing her delivered the maiden to the giant fortress high above, surrounded by ever-snowy peaks."

While he spoke, the mazoku raised his other hand next to the right one, enlarging the illusory scene, where the events took place as described: the blond girl appeared to walk among a row of stands, when the ugly creatures jumped forth from all directions, seized her and quickly disappeared from view.

"When the merchant realized what happened, he became completely disheartened. Imagine his horror when Mina told him that she intends to rescue her sister from the Evil Overlord's clutches! He begged her to stay, so at least one of his daughters would remain by his side, but the girl's decision did not waver, and she set out towards the high mountains."

"She travelled for three whole days and three whole nights before she reached the foot of the mountains, where she had found a small inn." A strangely foreboding one-storey high wooden building came into view. "Feeling hungry and tired, she decided to spend the night there. The inn was empty save from the innkeeper, a middle aged, shrewd looking woman, who regarded her with a suspicious look." The innkeeper appeared on the scene dressed in a waitress' outfit, with middle-length dark hair and features again strangely close to Lina's. "When Mina approached, the woman showed her a knowing smirk and said..."

* * *

"Are you looking for Priest Officius, my dear?"

"Excuse me?" Surprised, Lina turned towards the old lady standing behind a small wooden stand on the side of the road, next to the park which surrounded the Temple of Flarelord.

"I'm sorry, I just saw you knocking on the temple doors earlier," the gray-haired woman said in a kind voice, "Officius-sama is not there right now."

"Well, thanks, I figured as much," the sorceress sighed, "Do you know where he went?"

"I've seen him walking in the park a little while ago, but not since then. I'm sure he did not return to the temple," came the answer.

_Meaning that we would have to scour the entire town and we might still not find him. Terrific!_

"I'm sorry I couldn't help much, little miss. But here," the old lady took something out of one of the bowls on her stand. "I'll give you a magic bean free of charge."

"M-Magic bean?" Lina glanced at the woman's hand with puzzlement. The bean she saw looked pretty normal – if she disregarded the fact that it was pink in color with some small blue dots on it for good measure. She couldn't suppress a snicker. "Wow. Don't tell me that if I plant this, a giant beanstalk will grow out of it by tomorrow."

"No, but they do taste pretty nice. Try it!" the old woman said. After a moment of hesitation, the sorceress took the bean and flung it into her mouth.

"Mmm, chocolate! It _is _good, thank you very much!" she exclaimed. "Good luck with your, ehm, enterprise!" She waved to the lady before taking to the air, and started flying out of the city, towards where she guessed Xelloss had found the crashed wagon last night.

_First the mushroom-chick with the Fireba__ll Crackers, and now the magic beans. What's going on with this town today?

* * *

_

"…And so, armed with the information of the overlord's one weakness, Mina set out to climb the dangerous steeps of the Mountain of Doom." Xelloss continued his story, measuring vivid description, funny comments and dialog with the preciosity of an alchemist conducting a dangerous experiment with volatile reagents, completely captivating his preschool-aged audience. "Little did he know, however, that the evil mastermind was well aware of her mission and her abilities as a sorceress, and sent out numerous minions to make sure that she will never ever reach the summit alive…"

* * *

Lina put a couple of larger stones as a marker on top of the freshly buried grave.

_Rest in peace__ old man, whoever you were._

As things stood, her trip was completely fruitless. Officius had disappeared, and the untouched wreck on the side of the sparsely travelled road did not offer any clues either: the coachman had been carrying lots of letters along with a few trinkets, but nothing out of the ordinary or even of mentionable value. If he knew anything about what was going on, he took the knowledge with him to the afterlife.

_Oh well,_ the sorceress shrugged in resignation, while rummaging through the contents of one of the wagon's trunks one last time, _we can always just continue on to Karthon and wait for the bad guys to find _us_ first._

"Hey, you! What are you doing over there?!" Lina's head snapped up to see a man in leather armor, with an eye patch over one of his eyes glaring at him from the road, a hundred feet away. Behind him stood about a dozen of his fellows, all of them armed mercenaries.

_Or maybe we don't even have to wait._

"I could ask you the same question!" the sorceress said flippantly. "If you were just passing by, then for all you know, this could be _my_ wagon and I would only be trying to save what I can from the crash. But with your attitude, I think you know exactly what happened here, right?"

"You're one smart girl," the man with the eye patch smirked. "Too smart, I'm afraid. You're right, this was my handiwork. I didn't want to involve others in this, but it looks like there's no way we can let you go now."

"You didn't want to involve others? Give me a break!" Lina seethed, clenching her fists as the mercenaries began their threatening approach. "You know what I hate even more than bandits? Bandits who are also hypocrites to boot! You people--" She opened one of her palms, and a sphere of angry flames blazed up in it instantly. "--are going _down_."

* * *

"And what did Mina do to the trolls then, Uncle Xelloss?" Nellie asked, her eyes fixed on the illusion which showed the protagonist surrounded by a mob of monsters.

"Oh, that question has a very easy answer," said the mazoku, his cheerful voice taking on a darker tone. "She showed them absolutely no mercy."

* * *

"Someone heeelp, this girl is a demon!!" screamed one of the mercenaries, desperately trying to combine the activities of running for his life and putting out the fire which was quickly eating away at his pants.

"Regroup, you cowardly morons!" Their leader tugged at his eye patch in anger. "You should be seasoned veterans, damn it! Get behind her back and surround her!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs, but no one seemed to listen; they were all busy trying to get as far away as possible from Lina. "She's only _one_ wet behind the ears sorceress, for crying out lo--"

"FLARE BIT!"

His sentence was interrupted by several fiery explosions dangerously close to his face; as he felt the air knocked out of him, the spell's power flung the man to the ground.

"Wet behind the ears? Please! When I was actually as old as I look now, I could already kick the butts of idiots like you all day." The sorceress' form appeared above him, blocking the sun. He could not make out her face because of the backlight and the stars dancing before his eyes, but despite her ostentatious words, her voice sounded clearly unamused. "I'm going to ask this only once: Who are you working for? What do you or your boss want with Nellie exactly?"

"The hell I know!" the man spat the words, glaring at her. "At first I thought it was about the inheritance, but my employer doesn't seem to care of it at all. I'm supposed to be his lieutenant, but he never tells me anything! As for his name," he rolled his eyes, "you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try me," said Lina skeptically.

"He calls himself the… the Baron of Evil." the mercenary garbled the words quickly, as if their mere mention embarrassed him. "Yeah, I know what you think, and you're probably right; he's pretty much insane. But he's also filthy rich, and that was enough to get me trapped before realizing what I was getting into. Now I'm under a contract to serve him, and I cannot back out of it."

"You say that like I should feel sorry for you," the sorceress deadpanned.

"Hey, look, I really wasn't talking for nothing when I said that I don't want to involve other people." The man carefully stood up while he tried to get his most sympathetic face on; unfortunately that one was just as bad as all the others. "I'm a professional. If someone stands in my way, I'll kill them, no sweat, but just killing randomly isn't my game. Same thing with a contract: If I sign one, then I'm bound to it, plain and simple. But that guy forced me into something I didn't want, so if you look at it from this angle, then… well, I'm actually the victim here."

The mercenary quickly realized that was not the best thing to say, when Lina's face began to assume the same color as her eyes.

* * *

"And, well, after all was said and done," Xelloss spoke, the previous enthusiasm notably missing from his voice, "they went home and lived happily until the mazoku destroyed the world. The end."

"That was a great story, Uncle Xelloss!" Nellie jumped to her feet and started to hop about with unbridled zeal. "Tell it again from the beginning, please!"

Unfortunately, Xelloss' passion for storytelling had vanished.

"Perhaps some other time," the priest shook his head, eyeing the girl with a skeptical look, as if he had been told something truly unrealistic. "Tell me, Nellie-chan didn't you feel--" He chose not to finish his sentence as his head turned towards the balcony. "Hmm, just as well."

"Have you ever heard of someone called the 'Baron of Evil'?" Lina approached from said direction, her expression less than happy.

"Of course I did," the mazoku stood up from the carpet to greet her, "it was one of the worst costumes I have ever seen on a masquerade – although I do have the feeling we are not talking about the same person. Where did you hear this?"

"A few thugs attacked me at the crash site," the sorceress folded her arms. "Their leader told me that this baron or whatever is the one behind last night's attack. In the end I couldn't ask him where the guy lived though, so maybe he just made it all up…" she trailed off, not really wanting to admit that the reason the pivotal question was left unanswered had a lot to do with the Fireball which nearly knocked the mercenary into orbit.

Luckily for her, Xelloss seemed to have other things on his mind; Lina did not notice it until now, but behind the hastily donned cheerful façade, he appeared to look inexplicably frustrated. The mazoku apparently also took note of her realization, because he dropped the act entirely and spoke to her in a more serious tone.

"Forgive me, Lina-san, but before we delve into that, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" He reached out to touch her arm, and the next thing the sorceress knew, they were perched precariously on the spine of the inn's rooftop. The row of tiles was pretty thin, and she had to grab on to Xelloss' cloak to keep from losing her balance – a problem which the priest did not seem to face.

"I assure you that I can monitor Nellie-chan's activities just as well from up here, so you don't need to worry," he said while the sorceress steadied herself. Not appreciating the change of scenery regardless, she shot him an annoyed look.

"Well then, what was so darn important that you had to drag me up here?"

"Lina-san, I am now completely certain, something is decidedly…" The priest struggled to find the right word. "…decidedly _wrong_ with that girl."

"What are you talking about?" Lina furrowed her brows in confusion. "She's pretty well-behaved for her age; she does what she's told and doesn't really complain or throw tantrums. Of course, she wants to have everything that looks interesting and cannot remain in one place for five minutes straight, but that's hardly shocking for a less than five year old kid."

"That may be so - you _are_ the expert, after all," the priest begrudgingly agreed, "but tell me what do you think of the following then: by my experience, children of her age do not appreciate frightening stories, as they are too easily scared by them. Am I correct in this assumption?"

"You were trying to scare Nellie and failed? That's your problem?" the sorceress interjected, staring at him incredulously. Xelloss nodded, his expression completely serious, grave even.

_Well, he's a mazoku and all, but that still sounds pretty stupid._

"Okay look," Lina tried to humor her companion by forcing herself not to laugh, "it depends a lot on the story itself, actually. Fairy tales can be pretty nasty and children listen to them all the time, because they don't describe things in detail and the kids imagine those scenes in ways which aren't frightening to them."

An odd smile returned to the priest's face, like he was proud of some accomplishment.

"Oh, I was well aware of that," he extended an open palm towards the sorceress, "that is why I decided to use some visual aids."

Two tiny illusory figures appeared on his palm, locked in a bloody battle. The bigger one was a golden dragon, majestic even with the numerous scars and wounds on its body, inflicted by its opponent, oddly enough, a beaver of roughly the same size, its fur having an even stranger purple hue. The dragon managed to get behind the beaver, slashed out with its claws, and--

"Ugh…" Lina winced as she watched the gory scene unfold. Then she realized why the mazoku showed this to her. "Are you out of your astral-dwelling mind?!" Ignoring their unstable location, she grabbed the priest by his collar and shook him violently.

For a second, she thought she lost her balance as the footing below her legs abruptly disappeared, but the sensation only lasted an instant – the next moment they were back in their room.

"Perhaps you should look around before jumping to conclusions," Xelloss gestured towards Nellie. The little girl was busy trying to shape a pillow to something which resembled a hat; she did not even notice they were away.

"Grandma Lina, let's play!" She whirled around suddenly, putting the pillow on her head. "I'll be Mina the Sorceress, Uncle Xelloss can be the Evil Overlord and you can be the golden dragon or the purple beaver! But watch out, because the beaver's gonna' lose his head in the end!"

"Ehe… That's, uhm, nice, sweetheart," Lina mumbled semi-coherently. "We'll play a little later, okay?"

"Okay!" Nellie chirped, transforming her pillow-hat into a pillow-sword and making several swipes with it in the air. Xelloss gazed at the child pointedly before turning to the sorceress once again.

"I almost forgot to mention: aren't children of her age and gender supposed to play with dolls or similar, instead of swinging make-believe swords and enjoying horror-tales?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You cannot possibly say that's normal, Lina-san."

The sorceress looked from the merrily playing girl to the priest, who seemed to have gained new confidence from his prior argument, and let out a tired sigh.

"You sure have a narrow definition of 'normal', Xel," she muttered. "No, not all little girls play with dolls. And there are kids who aren't scared of horrific things simply because they don't know they should be – they just haven't learned it yet. It's not commonplace, but it happens. Though luck for you, huh?" smiling faintly at the mazoku, she turned around and headed for the door. "I'll get us something to drink. All this philosophical debate is getting me thirsty."

Xelloss remained standing in the same position long after the door closed behind her.

"She does not know what she should be afraid of? …I see," he murmured thoughtfully, an evil smirk slowly materializing on his face.

He casually walked to the nearby bed and sat down. "Nellie-chan, would you mind coming over here for a bit?" He gestured to his side. The girl glanced up from her sword practice-routine, grinned, and started running towards him at top speed. "There is a very serious matter I would like to talk to you abou--" His sentence was abruptly cut off by the all-purpose pillow, which rudely crashed into his face.

"Pillow fight!"

"No, Nellie-chan, there _won't_ be any pillow fights right now," Xelloss said with a forced smile as he removed the bed accessory from his head, in which moment it immediately burst into blue flames and burned away in the blink of an eye. "Sit down, _please_."

"Aaaw…" The girl looked a little annoyed by the loss of her toy, but she did as he asked.

"To tell the truth, I have a confession to make," the priest cocked his head towards her in a patronizing manner. "Previously, the reason I was so surprised by your suggestion to play 'demon hunter' was the very fact that… I am indeed, a demon." He halted to measure her reaction; when he saw her eyes widen, he continued at a slow, relished pace. "My full name and title is Xelloss, the Priest. I am the mazoku servant of Greater Beast Zellas Metallium, and as such I am currently the fifth most powerful demon in existence. Considering this, it might not be unreasonable for you humans to view me as a personification of evil." A thin, fluorescent purple-black aura appeared around Xelloss, its glow making his features look eerie and inhuman. "You know, we mazoku are feared by all, and with good reason: The purpose of our existence is to return this world into the Sea of Chaos, destroying everything – and _everyone_. We are already working since thousands of years to make this happen, and in doing so, I personally have spilt the blood of all kinds of intelligent beings; elves, dragons, and of course humans as well, of all ages and variety."

"The fact of the matter is, Nellie-chan," the mazoku leaned closer, "that I could easily – very, _very_ easily – do the same thing to you."

"…Why?" The uncertain question left the girl's mouth after a few moments of silence.

Xelloss chuckled. "There must be a specific reason for me to do that? We mazoku live off the pain and suffering of others – off the pain of your so-called grandmother, and off _yours_, too. As far as the immediate reason goes," his expression was both contemptuous and horrifyingly sincere, "it needs to be nothing more than that I simply feel like doing so."

Nellie blinked.

"Why?"

"We represent the dark side of everything there is." The priest was now really getting into it. "Your fears, your troubles, insecurities, we are somewhere there at the heart of it all. We are here to ruin your little sand castle of civilization, to break apart everything that you would so desperately try to keep in one piece. When your mind dreams up the worst horror you can imagine in your nightmares while you sleep, that still very much pales in comparison to the real nightmare that _we_ mazoku are--"

"Why?"

The ominous glow around Xelloss completely backfired when it made his face even more ridiculous-looking than it already was as he stared at the girl. "I beg your pardon?"

"Why?" Nellie giggled. "Why-why-why-why-why-_why_?"

The mazoku's expression, which usually contained at least the hint of a smile, now turned entirely dark. Opening his eyes, he glared at the child, his mouth set into an angry frown. A faint rumble could be heard from below them, as if the earth itself had moved; the furniture in the room began to rattle, and the fresh flowers put into the vase on the cupboard suddenly withered and died, before crumbling to fine dust.

"You have gone _way_ too far, young lady," he drawled, his voice low, but still almost cutting. The girl stared breathlessly into the lifeless slit pupils, which's darkness threatened to swallow her whole any moment.

Then the unthinkable happened.

* * *

Lina reentered the room with a jug in her hand.

"You guys better like this orange juice," she muttered, "because the bartender downstairs seems to think it's made out of liquid gold or something considering the money he made me pay for it."

She halted in mid-step when she was struck by the positively ice-cold atmosphere which penetrated the room. Xelloss stood with his back to her at the exit to the balcony, while Nellie sat on a chair at the table twiddling her thumbs, looking a bit guilty.

"Okay, what the _heck_ has happened here while I was away?" she asked, putting the jug down on the table.

"I have no desire to speak of it," the mazoku stated in a stern voice, not bothering to turn around.

_No 'that is a secret'? Yikes, __that's got to be serious._

"Well, ahm…" Nellie started unsurely, "Uncle Xelloss wanted to talk about something, but I wanted to do a pillow fight, but then he made the pillow disappear, and… and then he started talking about 'mozaku'-people and sand castles but I didn't understand, and then the room began to shake and he opened his eyes real wide," judging from her exaggerated gestures, the priest's eyes supposedly grew bigger than a watermelon, "and did you know grandma, that Uncle Xelloss' eyes look like a kitty's?"

"A... kitty?" the sorceress had to admit the similarity, but stating it that way had a certain ridiculous ring to it which felt really out of place.

"So then I laughed and told Uncle Xelloss that his eyes are cute like that, but I think that made him a little mad." Nellie finished her explanation, looking hopefully at her 'grandmother' to provide her with a solution. "Do you think he doesn't like kitties?"

"I… am… _NOT_ mad," came a barely audible but nonetheless very angry statement from the mazoku's direction.

"But Uncle Xelloss, your hands are shaking," Nellie commented innocently.

The priest's said hands slowly clenched into a fist, and he spun around violently.

"Aren't you being a tad egoistical?!" he snapped at the child, his expression a twisted parody of his normal smile. "How _dare_ you think that a tiny, insignificant, inchoate human like you _of all beings_ can make _me_ angry?! It takes a lot more than that, I assure you!" His furious eyes fell upon the sorceress. "My apologies, Lina-san, but it has just occurred to me that my paperwork is long overdue, and so I'm afraid I won't be able to take part in the '_fun'_ any longer. Have a nice day!" And with that, he disappeared.

Nellie looked up to the sorceress with sad eyes. "He really doesn't like kitties, right?"

"I have absolutely no idea," said Lina, slowly shaking her head. And it was the truth.

_End of Part One. _

_(Parts 2 and 3 are also up, so you can go right ahead! :) __ )_


	4. Happily Ever After, part 2

**Chapter 3. Happily Ever After – Part 2.**

The young innkeeper really hated her life. Here it was, the event in Atlas City which drew more people here than all of the town's attractions all year long, and her establishment was still half-empty. She knew one thing for certain: If she ever met the bastard again who sold the business to her, she would shove the contract along with the man's claims of an 'advantageous location' down his throat.

"I'm sorry, is the inn open for business?" someone asked, snapping the innkeeper out of her melancholic stupor. She glanced up from behind the counter and saw a man and a woman, along with a younger child looking at her curiously.

"Of course, of course!" she let out a forced laugh. "Don't be fooled by all the quiet here, this is actually one of the best places in town! Comfortable rooms and great food for a reasonable price!" She turned to the woman, who stood the closest to her. "Just tell me your name, madam, and I'll give you three a room right away!"

"We'd like two rooms, please," she corrected. "And my name is, well… Nadia! That's right, Nadia Ul Kept!"

The child looked at her incredulously. "But mom, that's not your real name--"

"Sssh!" the woman chided him, and then hastily smiled at the innkeeper. "Can we have our keys now?"

"O-Of course." She wrote the name into the guestbook, and handed the keys over. As the trio disappeared in the corridor leading to their rooms, she could still hear the woman's older looking companion ask in a tired voice:

"Is this all truly necessary?"

"I know what I'm doing!" she responded, declaring the end of the argument.

The innkeeper watched after them for a while, then shrugged and went back to plotting her vengeance; she really was in no position to pick her customers, after all.

* * *

The lieutenant peeked cautiously around the corner, his good eye set on the expensive inn on the other side of the road.

"So you're sure they took a room in that place?" he asked the shabby beggar next to him. The underfed man nodded vehemently.

"Yes, sir. I saw the girl; she looked exactly how you described her, 'no chest and a big mouth'. She went in there yesterday late at night with a priest and a very young child in tow. I didn't see them coming out since then."

"Not on foot, that is," the mercenary muttered. "Alright, here's the gold I promised, now beat it!" He tossed a coin to the beggar, who quickly hid it between his palms and ran away.

"Listen here you sissies!" he addressed his slightly crispy-looking team, huddled together in the narrow alley. "This time, we are going to do it right, or you'll have much bigger problems than your pants being on fire, got it? There will be no more stupid overrun attempts; we're going to surround the sorceress slowly and carefully. There will also be no more panicking after being hit by a spell; if you take punishment, try to give some of it back instead of crying for goodness sake--" He noticed his men gazing at him with a look of surprise and fear on their faces. "I said there will be no more scaredy cats, do you hear me?!"

"B-but boss, behind you--!" one of the mercenaries stuttered.

The lieutenant turned around – and stared right into the face of a grinning figure in a priest's clothes, who was hanging in the air upside down; only his dangling cloak touched the pavement.

"Greetings, gentlemen. How do you do?" the strange man said jovially. "Snooping around the inn, aren't we?"

"Eh, another sorcerer?!" the lieutenant snarled, drawing his sword. "I had more than enough of you lot for one day!"

Before he could swing his blade, however, the priest disarmed him with a flick of his hand, turned around in the air, and pushed the man to the wall by his neck, all in less than a second. The rest of the mercenaries were frozen in shock.

"Oh, I fear your day is only going to get worse!" the priest smiled unnervingly, his open eyes taking on a dangerous glint. "I am not a sorcerer, but a mazoku; currently a very moody, bloodthirsty mazoku in fact." Crackling, pitch-black energy appeared at the tip of his staff to emphasize his words. "Right now, I would be quite interested in torturing you until you beg of me to kill you. What do you say to that?"

"H-help?" the lieutenant whimpered.

The other man closed his eyes and dropped him to the ground.

"Why thank you, you cannot imagine how much it means for me to hear that," he beamed, as if the mercenary leader just answered correctly to the million dollar question. "Now let us get down to business. You are the men of this Baron of Evil, correct?"

"Y-Yeah, we are," the lieutenant answered unsurely, "What do you want with him?"

He recoiled in fright as the priest waggled a finger in front of his face.

"That is a secret," he said mysteriously, "but one could say that whatever your master's intentions are with that girl you seek, I think you and I do share some common goals."

* * *

Lina chewed solemnly on her fifth steak; Nellie was just picking at her food. After the mazoku priest's abrupt departure several hours ago, the child's mood visibly deflated, and they have spent the time until dinner doing nothing worth of mention.

The sorceress was completely in the dark about what has gotten into Xelloss; the only person she had seen capable of pushing him into such a fit was the dragon priestess Filia, and even that required a day or two of exposure before the mazoku's patience wore thin. She understood that the priest must have been frustrated by his futile attempts to frighten Nellie (although _why_ exactly he wanted to do that so badly was also beyond her), but his reactions looked way too much overboard.

_It'__s probably for the best though,_ she thought. _There was a good reason why Xelloss barely visited us back then: All this parenting stuff must feel hugely boring to him._

"I'm not hungry." Nellie pushed the plate away sulkily.

"I won't have any of that, young lady." The sorceress put it back where it was with a resolute move of her hand. "Food is not something to be taken lightly; you must eat healthy stuff regularly or you'll never become a beautiful sorcery genius like me."

"But--"

"You should listen to her, Nellie-chan, Lina-san does have your best interests in mind."

The sorceress did a double take as she identified the voice's origin: Xelloss sat at the other end of the table like he was there from the beginning – he even got himself a cup of coffee from who-knows-where.

"Uncle Xelloss!" Nellie suddenly brightened.

"So, how was your day while I was away?" the mazoku asked with an innocent smile. The girl was about to answer when Lina interrupted her.

"Hold it right there! What made you come back so fast?" she demanded. "When I heard your usual excuse about 'paperwork', I could have sworn we won't be seeing you until we reach Karthon at the earliest."

"That was by no means an excuse, Lina-san." The priest held up his hands. "I do have an ongoing mission concerning paperwork: I need to find certain papers belonging to certain manuscripts and burn them, as you already know."

"Yes, and I also know you didn't answer the question," the sorceress rewarded him with a flat look.

"Which question? Oh, that little accident before was nothing, I certainly overreacted a bit." Xelloss whisked his hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, really."

Despite the mazoku's best efforts, Lina was getting increasingly certain that she was seeing a bright, blinking neon label over his head with the words 'UP TO SOMETHING' written on it in huge bold letters. Still, she was also sure that she won't be able to pry anything out of him for the time being.

"Okay, glad to have you back, I guess." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Say, do you have something planned after dinner?" Now it was the priest's turn to ask. "I have found something in town which will surely interest you – Nellie-chan especially."

"Really?" The little girl's eyes widened, and she lunged at her plate like she had not seen food for days.

"Sorry, Xel, but we're leaving town," Lina said while she leaned back in her chair, hoping to throw a wrench into his plans, whatever they were. "This inn is run by shameless bandits and we wasted too much time here already."

"But Karthon isn't so far away, and an afternoon won't make much of a difference," Xelloss argued patiently. "And frankly, I am certain that once I tell both of you the details, it will become impossible for us not to go there."

_I'd like to see that__, _the sorceress thought confidently, folding her arms.

She really should have known better._

* * *

_

_Oh, damn it._

Lina wandered lethargically towards Atlas City's main square through the dense crowd with Nellie and Xelloss in tow, and glanced tiredly at the giant poster pasted on the side of a larger building:

_Atlas City's First Annual Fairy Tale Festival_

The priest was right, she had to admit; once the little girl heard the news about the event, their fate was sealed.

_At least now I know what those strange things were about in the morning__,_ she thought, but this knowledge offered little consolation. Xelloss was definitely trying to do something which they would probably all regret, and at the moment they were doing exactly what he wanted, which the sorceress did not like one bit.

"Thank you!" Nellie grinned from ear to ear as a man dressed as a giant mouse with the text 'Poulsbo Bakery' on his back handed her a chocolate-covered muffin. She devoured it in two bites, and set her sights on a stand with the sign 'Catch the Magic Fish' on top of it. "Grandma, let's go there next!"

"If we stop by every single stand, we'll never get to the main attractions at the town square, you know." Her words falling upon deaf ears, Lina turned the way the girl was pointing. "…Eh, whatever, let's do it."

_At least i__f I can win some big prize for her, we might get out of here faster._

Many children were waiting by the stand with their parents, so they had to get in line, leaving the sorceress time to look around. The game offered here, she knew, was not about catching real goldfish: This variant used unmoving wooden fish with a brass loop on their heads, so they were not all that difficult to catch with the fishing rod given to the player. What really mattered was the hidden number which was written on fish's belly – each of the prizes lined up on the stand had a unique number written on them, and the player would win the one for which he caught the corresponding fish; these ranged from really expensive things to gewgaws not even worth a copper piece.

Lina eyed the four feet wide circular pond next to the stand thoughtfully as she gave the five copper price to the owner.

"Here you go." The middle-aged woman handed a small fishing rod to Nellie. The girl was about to throw the line in to catch the nearest fish right away, when the sorceress put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hold your horses! We wouldn't want to settle with _any_ kind of prize, now do we?" She winked at her. "How about we go for that one?" She pointed to the top of the stand, where a giant teddy bear, almost as big as the child herself, gazed proudly at the people below with a piece of paper holding the number 1 pinned to its fluffy chest.

"Oooh…" That was all Nellie could say as she stared at the humongous toy.

"Okay, just wait a moment, let me devise our strategy." Lina leaned closer to the priest. "You know which fish is the number one, right?" she whispered.

"Naturally." Xelloss nodded.

"And what do you want in return for that info?" the sorceress asked, putting her merchant skills at the ready to strike an acceptable bargain.

"Far more than what you'd be willing to pay, Lina-san." The mazoku ruined her hopes with an evil smile. "It would be cheating, after all."

"Spoilsport," Lina murmured with an annoyed look. "But you know what? I'll do it anyway." She looked over the swarm of fish one last time, and turned back to the child. "Nellie, go around the stand to the other side of the pond and catch that fish right at the opposite end."

"Okay!"

"I'm sorry, but it isn't allowed to circle around," the owner said quickly, trying to block the girl's way.

_Hehehe, gotc__ha!_

"What are you talking about?!" snapped the sorceress. "We can choose any fish we want, right? It's not our fault the fishing rod is so short that we can't reach it from here!"

Somewhat intimidated, the women let Nellie through, who shortly returned with the fish in her hands.

"Which one is this, grandma?" She held it up for all to see: the number written on it was none other than a big bold '1'.

"That number just won you a huge teddy bear, sweetheart," Lina said with a grin while Nellie proceeded to jump around, squealing in joy. Small gasps could be heard from around the stand as the owner reluctantly went to find a ladder to get the main prize off the top.

"How do you like that?" the sorceress asked Xelloss, forming a victory-sign with her hand.

"Not too bad, Lina-san," the priest admitted. "But you didn't _really_ know where it was, did you?"

"That's right, but it was also more than just a guess," she said proudly. "That prize attracted a lot of people here, so it was natural that the owners would've wanted it to be given away last. Still, what really decided everything was the woman's reaction. If she didn't panic the way she did, I might have told Nellie to pick a different fish instead--"

"Cheater! She's a cheater!" a young voice yelled from behind them. "I'm sure she has a spell she can catch that fish with!"

"Now Val, I've told you it isn't nice to shout or point at people like that," a more mature sounding female spoke from the same direction.

"Look, it's Nina!" Nellie exclaimed as she turned towards the voices. Although Lina could not know, the person standing a bit farther behind in line indeed looked exactly like one of the heroines in Xelloss' story. A boy with roughly seven years of apparent age stood by her, his clothes plain but well-kept; his shoulder-length fair hair flew by his face irritably as he snapped his head back to glare at the sorceress. She recognized a third familiar face behind them too: An older man with shining blond hair and stark features, dressed entirely in white, and wearing an expression which unmistakably told everyone that he would rather be somewhere else.

"Well I'll be… Filia, Val, and--"

"--Milgazia-san, of all people." the priest finished her sentence, looking equally surprised.

"Ah, h-hi! It's been a while since we've last seen each other, hasn't it, Lina-san?" the girl identified as Filia quickly put on a friendly smile.

"No kidding," Lina said cheerfully as she walked closer to the trio. "It was over five years ago, right? Val sure has grown a lot!"

"Quit making fun of me! We both know I look just like when we last met!" the boy pouted.

"She only tried to compliment you. Speak to her with the respect she deserves," the blond-haired man spoke in a calm but firm voice, which caused Val to immediately shrink back a bit. He then turned to the sorceress. "It is good to see you, Lina, even if I would have preferred our reunion in a less… bustling locale."

"You know how it goes, me and bustling locales are drawn to each other." She grinned. "What brings you here, Milgazia?"

_"_He just came to accompany us," Filia answered instead of him. "You know we visit Milgazia-sama and his people every few years or so, and we thought it would be nice if we… ehm, stopped by at the fair on our way back, right? It's a unique occasion after all, right?" She shot a quick, almost pleading glance towards the man, who blinked perplexedly for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Really?" The odd interlude did not escape the sorceress' notice.

"No," Milgazia closed his eyes, "the truth is that we are being hunted by a legion of mazoku and our only hope was to take refuge in the city. They might still find and kill us, though," he said grimly.

As Lina's horrified expression showed, that certainly was a reply she did not expect.

"W-What?!" she blurted out.

"I was merely joking," said Milgazia, although his tone and expression did not change at all.

"Ah, Milgazia-san's sense of humor is just the same as ever!" Even though he was only a couple of steps away, Xelloss made a point of teleporting right into the man's face, making him flinch. "And with both of you pretending I'm not even here; the common courtesy of the golden dragon priesthood never fails to amaze me."

"Mom, the raw garbage is here," the boy whispered to Filia just loud enough for everyone to hear, causing the mazoku priest to twitch ever so slightly.

"Not now, Val, he's having a bad day," Lina warned him, but only got an annoyed growl in return.

"Who asked you, cheater?" Val hissed. "There's no way you could have won that prize without doing something fishy! You should give it back!"

"My grandma is not a cheater!" declared Nellie, slowly making her way towards the others, somewhat preoccupied with trying to balance the huge teddy bear on her head.

Her words made everyone quiet, although not exactly because of what she wanted to say.

"Grandmother?" Milgazia repeated unsurely. "But how would--"

The heads of both dragon priests turned abruptly towards the mazoku.

"Xelloss, you fiend!" Filia yelled at him, sounding on the verge of hysterics. "You actually forced yourself on Lina-san decades ago?!"

"Hey, what the heck are you talking about?!" The sorceress snapped, but the priestess apparently did not even hear her.

"So everything I've heard about you two recently were just a cover for your debauched desires?!" she shrieked. "You monster!"

Milgazia did not say anything, but the intense, hateful stare he regarded the priest with spoke volumes.

"I don't know about you, Lina-san, but I very much preferred Officius-san believing us to be married instead of this," Xelloss commented with a pained smile.

"Mom, how about we call him 'the perverted raw garbage' from now on, huh?" Val fanned the flames with glee.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!!" Lina roared with such intensity that all people in a twenty-feet-radius of the stand grew silent, and now stared at the sorceress questioningly. "Ah, just a small family matter, move along now!" She waved towards the onlookers with an embarrassed look, before turning her attention back to Filia. "She's got nothing to do with Xelloss, so get that outta your heads. Then, um… Let's make a deal, okay? I won't ask why you're _really _here so you can stop making excuses, and you won't ask about Nellie; I'll probably tell you everything the next time we meet anyway. How about it?"

"…All right," the priestess replied reluctantly. "We were, uhm, about to head towards the… the masquerade contest, so I guess we'll see you all later."

"What's a masquerade, Uncle Xelloss?" Nellie asked the mazoku, looking happy to have stumbled upon some part of the conversation which finally made some sense to her.

"People will be competing on who has the best costume, I presume," the priest answered readily. "Considering the theme of the fair, I guess everyone will try to impersonate a character from fairy tales."

"Wow, that's great! Who will _you _be, lady?" the little girl asked Filia, who blanched and started stammering once again.

"M-Me? No, the one who'll be taking part is actually…" She glanced at Val, who began to desperately shake his head. "… actually… Yes, Milgazia-sama!" She pointed at the other golden dragon. Milgazia made a face like he just suffered a heart attack.

_It's your own fault, I t__old you both to stop with the spiel,_ Lina thought, nonetheless feeling a bit sorry for the older dragon. _What does Filia want to hide _this _much_?

"Grandma, grandma! Let's go with them! I wanna' see it, please!" Nellie begged the sorceress.

"I'm somewhat interested myself," Xelloss added cheerfully. "I'm sure Milgazia-san will dazzle us with a most memorable performance."

"It looks like the matter is settled then." Lina smirked at the priestess. Her increasing eagerness to find out the Filia's secret made her forget all about Xelloss' supposed plan, and the bunch continued towards the main square in high spirits – at least as far as the humans and mazoku were concerned.

* * *

The town square was jam-packed with people, to the extent that made the surrounding streets look deserted. Vendors, artists and other attractions were all around, but the biggest tumult was right at the middle, where a large wooden stage has been built to be used for the plays performed and contests held at the fair – and which was currently occupied by the participants of the masquerade competition. A four-feet tall set, depicting various scenes from famous fairy tales, has been placed at the back, and the contestants showed their costumes before it to the three-man jury, who sat in comfortable chairs right in front the stage, surrounded by countless people – the only reason they were not trampled yet was a batch of city guards who kept the onlookers at bay.

"Nnngh… Whatever happens, Nellie, don't let go of my hand, or you'll be lost in a jiffy," Lina grunted as she pushed her way through the crowd to get to the side of the stage, with Xelloss and the dragons right behind her. It was there where all the contestants gathered – the mass of people made it impossible to follow any kind of signup procedure, so they all just stood in line to get to the stage one at a time, where their names were written down by the jury.

One such contestant was on the stage even as the sorceress got close enough to make out what was happening. Dressed in a green overall with a fake mustache (Lina had no idea which story that was), he waited for the jury's decision, shifting his weight between his two feet anxiously.

"Not bad, I guess," the first of them, a fifty-something looking man with a long graying beard snorted, holding up a sheet of paper with '5' painted on both sides.

"I for one miss any real effort in this," the second judge, a woman with dark hair a narrow, shifty eyes held up a '3'.

"Your style rocks, man, work on it a little and you'll rule!"The third one, a cheerful young man grinned showing as much of his glittering white teeth as possible, and voted a '7'.

_What a bunch of weirdoes_, Lina thought as they finally arrived to their destination.

"Get ready, Milgazia-sama, once he comes back here, you'll go next!" Filia pointed at the man with the green overall who slowly, dejectedly trudged off stage, and shoved the older dragon towards the stairs at the side.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" a man dressed as a giant crab shouted – he was supposed to be next in line. "Wait for your turn, damn it, I've been standing here for hours!"

"I'm sorry, but this is a matter of life and death!" the priestess pleaded. "Please let us go!"

_Life and death?!_

"Hmph, make up something better next time and _get back in line_!" the man growled, snapping his pincers threateningly.

Filia's brows furrowed. With a move which made several nearby men blush, she reached under her skirt and pulled out a giant black mace. "I do not want to resort to violence, but I will if I must. Please let us through."

The crab immediately took a few steps back, knocking several other contestants over. "I-I guess I can still wait for a while."

"My, Filia-san is really taking this seriously," Xelloss marveled.

"You think?" The sorceress stared at the priestess incredulously. "Wait Filia, shouldn't Milgazia, you know,_ get his costume on_ first??"

"He… He doesn't need one!" she responded hastily.

"Filia, this is getting out of control," Milgazia whispered to her as she pushed him up the stairs. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Anything, Milgazia-sama, as long as it makes the little girl satisfied!" she whispered back, her voice clearly desperate. "I know Lina-san is only here because of her, so then they'll surely leave! The dedication will begin here around sundown, and if Lina-san finds out anything about it… I don't know what will happen, but it's going to be terrible." She shuddered.

"You may have a point," the older dragon muttered, and began walking towards the center of the stage with resolute steps.

"Go, Mr. Milgazia!" Nellie yelled after him – she managed to clamber up to one of the slats to get a good view of the events. "Hey, don't you want to see him?" she turned towards Val, who stood a little farther with his back to the stage.

"No," came the sulky answer. "It's stupid, and I always hated costumes."

"But he's not wearing one!" the little girl insisted. "Plus, he's your mom's friend, so that makes him your friend too, right?"

The boy mumbled something under his breath. Then, after a moment of hesitation he turned around, and climbed up next to Nellie. "But I still think it's stupid," he declared.

Meanwhile, the golden dragon arrived before the jury.

"So, I hear from your fans over there that your name is Milgazia." the female judge said. "Milgazia who, exactly?"

"Just Milgazia." he replied evenly. "My full name would be impossible for you humans to write down or pronounce."

"Us humans?" the third member of the jury snickered. "You waste no time getting 'in character', huh? Totally hardcore!"

"Well, Mr. Just Milgazia, what kind of otherworldly being are you supposed to be?" the woman continued in an unamused tone. "All we see from you at first glance is that you're very… white."

Milgazia straightened, took a deep breath, and spoke to the judges in a proud, eloquent voice:

"I am a golden dragon, the son of the mightiest ryuzoku race in the world. By title, I am also the Supreme Elder of my kin who once served the cause of Aqualord Ragradia. In the War of the Monster's Fall one thousand years ago," he gestured towards the audience, "I battled the horde of mazoku alongside your ancestors, and from then on I strived to lead my people towards a future of peace and unity. In this long journey we face many enemies and hardships," he glanced towards Xelloss for a moment, who waved back to him cheerfully, "but we won't ever give up, and in the end I know we will prevail. This is the only advice I can give to you, humans, as well: persevere, and you will ultimately find that which you seek!" He ended his speech with a louder, dramatic exclamation.

Silence followed his words; the only sound that could be heard from around the stage was Filia's enthusiastic clapping.

"That is nice and all, my boy," the older judge said after a while, stroking his beard, "but if you're a dragon, shouldn't you have a tail, scaly skin, or something like that?"

"I have currently assumed a human shape," Milgazia informed him. "I could transform, but the stage would not support my weight and it would likely scare many people here."

"I see," the old man said with a scowl. "How original."

"He's in human form… Hahaha, that cracks me up!" the third judge howled with laughter.

"Anything else you want to say?" the woman deadpanned. "I mean, aside of the fact that you were too lazy to make yourself a costume?"

"Well, I…" the dragon seemed completely lost in the face of the jury's hostility. He turned to the side to look at Filia for aid, but she was just making exaggerated, flailing gestures with her hands which he could not comprehend – the one thing he understood from them was that it was too early for him to step down. Turning back to the annoyed jury, he forced himself to smile, and said, "In that case… I can tell a few jokes…"

A tiny slap could be heard from a few feet away, as Val agonizedly buried his face into his palm.

* * *

"My goodness, most impressive work, Milgazia-san!" Xelloss greeted the dragon as he walked down the stairs of the stage, looking slightly worn. "Who would have thought that it's actually possible to get a negative score in this competition?"

"That was low, Xel," Lina muttered disapprovingly, but her voice was drowned out by the yell of a very angry and frustrated Filia.

"Shut your mouth, mazoku!" She pointed her mace at the priest, although her attempt at intimidation was much less successful this time. "Milgazia-sama did everything he could! It's not like you would have been any better off!"

"You think so, Filia-san?" Xelloss said in a challenging manner. His human projection blurred for a second, then solidified again. Not wanting to make a stir, the mazoku let his hair, body and clothes remain the same, but Filia, who was looking straight at him, saw her own face, framed by the priest's shoulder-length dark hair, smiling deviously back at her.

"What do you think?" as he spoke, the priestess was shocked to hear the sound of her own voice as well. "Do you still have doubts that I could convincingly play the part of, let's say, the short-tempered and self-righteous golden dragon named Filia Ul Co--?"

"No, don't say it!" she gasped, tackling the surprised mazoku to the ground, and putting her free hand over his mouth; her eyes darted over the crowd in panic.

"Oh dear, if I had known that your name recently became a curse, Filia-san, I would have been more careful," Xelloss somehow managed to say unhindered, with his voice and features now returned to their usual state, before he slid out of the dragoness' grip with ease.

Nellie watched the quarrel between the two with a wondering look. "Why do Uncle Xelloss and Miss Filia fight like that?" she asked the boy next to her.

"Because your uncle is a sadist who likes to pick on people." Val made no effort to hide his distaste towards the girl's supposed relatives. "A sadist and a cheater; I guess he and your grandmother really deserve each other."

"Aww, why do you keep saying that?" With a new, surprisingly naughty glint in her eyes, Nellie smiled at him. "You wanted to get that teddy bear from the stand, too?"

"No!" the boy denied a bit too vehemently. "I am a century old ancient dragon, not some immature kid! I don't need childish stuff like that anymore--!"

The girl jumped down from her perch and grabbed the huge bear she left there leaning against the woodwork of the stage.

"Here, you can take it." She offered the enormous stuffed toy up to Val.

The boy was rendered completely speechless for a moment while his face turned bright red.

"Ahm…T-Thanks," he muttered weakly as he took the bear from her hands.

"Next contestant, please!" the female judge's impatient voice sounded from beneath the crowd. "We don't have all day here!"

The man in the crab suit, who spent the last few minutes staring at Filia's mace with increasing curiosity, now took an uncertain step forward – but immediately stepped back when he saw the brown-haired sorceress approaching the stage.

"Lina-san, don't tell me you want to take part as well…?" Her squabble with Xelloss made the dragoness even less able to contain or hide her anxiety, and now she sounded positively scared. "You also have no costume, and you saw how dreadful Milgazia-sama fared!"

The sorceress turned her head back as she climbed the stairs to look at the priestess. "I don't want to make the same mistake," she said with confidence. "But you know, after I thought about it a bit, I realized his idea wasn't that bad at all. It just needs a little tweaking and victory is guaranteed! There is a prize for the winner of the contest, right?"

"I… guess so," Filia admitted with some reluctance.

"Then it's as good as mine!" Lina exclaimed, and continued towards the center of the stage.

_Sorry, but after all the insanity you pulled off, __I'm not going anywhere until I get to the bottom of this. _She smirked._ And judging from your outbursts, time seems to be on my side._

"You can do it, grandma! Show 'em!" Nellie cheered. Xelloss stepped closer to the stage as well with an expectant look on his face, and watched the sorceress with an intensive stare.

"What are we going to do, Milgazia-sama?" the priestess spoke to the older dragon, her voice wavering. "It looks like they don't want to leave anytime soon!"

"How about telling them the truth?" Milgazia said with a sigh. "Hearing it from you won't be as bad as Lina finding it out on her own, you know that."

"But--" Filia stammered. "But I--"

"Mom, mom!" The dragoness was more than happy to let herself be distracted by the confused-sounding Val.

"What is it, dear?"

The boy held the big bear in his arms, and kept looking at it like it was some horribly cursed artifact. "Nellie gave this to me; what should I do?? She probably lured me into a trap, and now I am obliged to her and everything… I don't want to be her boyfriend!"

While the priestess laughed for the first time that day and tried to calm the young ancient dragon, Lina stood before the jury with a confident posture and an arrogant smile in place.

"Howdy!" She waved to them.

"Greetings, lady. Tell us your name, please," the bearded man asked.

The sorceress' smile widened.

"It's Lina Inverse," she stated simply.

"He asked about your real name, but whatever," The female judge wrote 'Lina Inverse #14' to the bottom of her list. "Come a little closer, will you?"

"My, would you look at that…" The old man rose from his seat as he gazed at the intricate black and white patterns on the sorceress' clothes in wonder. "Magically enhanced, fire-resistant fabric – this outfit must be worth a fortune!"

"And those shoulder guards look pretty funky too, whoa! She's not joking around," the third judge added.

A wave of murmurs ran through the crowd, as the onlookers tried to get closer to the stage to look at the unique 'costume'.

_Well, _y_ou know what they say: it can't get any better than the real thing, _Lina thought with satisfaction as she basked in the attention.

"Yes, it's a pretty decent effort, I admit," the other woman folded her arms. "But the clothes aren't everything: Her hair, for instance, looks pretty boring."

Lina's smile faltered considerably.

"Well, I must say that I'm also somewhat partial to the blond, curly Lina Inverse who appears in the Legend of the Orihalcon Golem," the older man nodded. "I think it would look better here, too."

"Not to mention her figure gives Lina's character a really flat twist, if you know what I mean," the young judge snickered.

"Excuse me?!" the sorceress bellowed.

"Now don't take it too hard," the old man spoke as he saw her darkened expression, "your costume does look outstanding for such an amateurish competition like this one." One of Lina's eyebrows twitched. "All in all, from what we have seen so far, you can easily win with it. So go on, Miss Inverse, don't fret; just show us what you can do."

_Who's fretting?! These people piss me off!__ And what did he mean by 'showing what I can do'? Do they expect me to act like… myself?!_

She let out a long breath, trying to calm herself down.

_Very well__, I guess I can do that. If they want some famous Lina Inverse lines delivered by yours truly, they're going to get them!_

Putting her arrogant smile back into place, the sorceress pointed at the crowd, and spoke with cheerful determination:

"_Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it!_" She punched a clenched fist into the air. "_Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will always be __mine__!_"

While the audience did not break out in applause, her words made the crowd somewhat noisier, which Lina interpreted as a good sign.

_T__hat felt kinda nostalgic._ She put her hands behind her head contentedly. _Please send the bouquets of roses to my dressing room, thank you--!_

"Now _that _was simply _pathetic_," the second judge snapped indignantly.

"Eh?" the sorceress leaned forward to get closer to the jury. "Sorry, could you say that again? I almost thought I heard something about being pathetic--"

"You heard it right!" the other woman answered in a spiteful voice. "There is no way someone like Lina Inverse would say those famous lines so horribly!"

"No kidding, man!" the third judge piped in. "Don't you know what kind of a gal Lina Inverse is? She's full of this… this raw energy that blows your socks off! She's a typhoon! A hurricane! Pure emotion, baby!"

"And as much as I hate to say," the old man took up the word, "your performance sounded more like that of a woman twice my age reminiscing about 'the good old times', if anything."

"W… Wu… Wa…" Lina stammered. "WHAAAAAT??!!"

"Perhaps you think otherwise?" the female judge smirked provocatively.

"You bet I do, you stuck-up, arrogant snobs!!" The sorceress roared. "What do you know about me, seriously?! You think you've read a few bedtime stories and now you're omniscient?! Who gave you the right to--" While she proceeded to yell the jury's head off, one of her supporters also gave voice to her displeasure.

"They can't talk to my grandma like that! They're being mean, aren't they, Uncle Xelloss?" Nellie asked the mazoku furiously.

"Lina-san needs to learn, if she hadn't already, that what she is and what people think of her are two very different things," the priest answered with a carefree smile. "She only suffers what she brought upon herself."

"But why are you so happy about that?" the child said, sounding slightly hurt. "You and Grandma Lina like each other! Do something!"

"What is the matter, are you bored perhaps?" Xelloss retorted, ignoring her words. "Don't worry, I did not forget about you. We're going to have lots of fun very soon – or one of us will, at least." He threw a wicked grin in the girl's direction.

Nellie stared at the priest in disbelief for a second, than sadly hung her head.

"You're still mad at me, right?" she muttered. "And at Grandma Lina, too…"

"I would appreciate it if you'd leave Lina-san out of this," the mazoku said, his voice becoming somewhat irritated. "I see no reason why your infuriating persistence to annoy me would have anything… to do… with…"

His words slowly died away; Xelloss stared off into space, his eyes widening.

"Persistence?" he whispered. "No, t-this cannot be right." He looked from the little girl to the raging sorceress and back, and for the first time Nellie saw genuine consternation taking hold of his features. "Impossible… Could it really be that--"

With a sudden movement, he leapt onto the stage.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Filia called after him, looking up from her talk with Val just in time to see the mazoku make his way towards Lina.

"I made a mistake, and now I will attempt to correct it," the priest said without turning back.

Meanwhile, the sorceress was about to put a literally explosive end to her tirade.

"--And another thing! Do you want me to show you what a 'pure emotion', 'raw energy' Lina Inverse would do if you treat her like this?! Take a darn good look!!" Gritting her teeth, she cupped her hands in front of her chest. "_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows__--_"

"That is as far as you will go." A wooden staff with a red jewel on top of it was thrust in front of her face, startling her enough to halt the incantation.

"What do you want, Xelloss?!" she sneered. "Can't you see I'm bu--…--sy…?" As the sorceress turned her head towards him, the gathering red mass of energy between her hands instantly blinked out, in reaction to her surprise.

The mazoku was wearing a mask. It was a very simple one made from a colored sheet of durable paper, attached to his head with a string - but while such things were available in hundreds of variations all over the fair, Lina was pretty sure this particular type was not sold anywhere: it depicted the terrifying, demonic face of Dark Star Dugradigduin unnerving detail; the only thing which ruined effect was the fact that the Demon Lord on the mask seemed to be sticking its tongue out at her.

"All will end right here, right now, Lina Inverse," the priest spoke in a deepened, overly dramatic voice. "I will fulfill my desire to rebuild the world from the ground up, and this time I will not let you get in the way. In fact, I am going to prove to you that the previous one-thousand-two-hundred-and-thirty-four occasions when you foiled my plans were nothing but simple coincidences!"

Some chuckles could heard from the crowd; the sorceress just stared at him with eyes bulged.

"Xel, w-what are you --?"

"Silence! I will not allow you to tarnish my reputation any longer!" the mazoku's voice became even more out of proportion. "It is already bad enough that Death Fog and Chaotic Blue are talking among themselves about how incompetent I am, and calling me, the very essence of evil and darkness, certain _names _behind my back." He shuddered theatrically. "Most horrible names, such as 'Dark Star, the shining beacon of hope'! Or 'Dark Star, the friend of all living things'! Or even 'Dark Star, the _humanitarian_'! Oh, the inhumanity of it all!"

Sounds of laughter came from all around the audience as the priest pointed an accusing finger at Lina.

"But this will end now!" he shouted. "There is no way you can escape my inescapable plan! I waited patiently for the moment when you are the most vulnerable: you already foiled two world-threatening plots this week, meaning you must feel at least a little tired! Now, prepare to taste my vengeance, which will cut into you like knife into a bowl of jelly!" He pointed his staff at the sorceress, raised his other hand into the air as if assuming some kind of ballet posture, and yelled, "GIANT FIERY SHOWER OF DOOM!"

A puff of smoke rose from the ground next to Lina.

"Ah, she evaded it!" Xelloss cried out, putting his free hand to his chest – needless to say the girl standing right in front of him was too dumbfounded to even move a muscle. "But be still, my heart; it is only to be expected from a sorceress of such 'raw energy' to dodge my attack! The next one, however, will surely be your end!"

Another puff of smoke appeared, now several feet behind her.

While many of the onlookers, Nellie included, were now rolling on the floor, the trio of dragons witnessed the scene with jaw-dropping bafflement.

"It's official: the raw garbage has gone nuts," Val said to no one in particular. All Filia could do was to nod.

What neither of them noticed was the man in the crab costume, who for the longest time paid little attention to the events on the stage – what he still kept staring at was the dragoness and her mace.

"Can she be _her_?" the man whispered. "It's a long shot… but there is no harm in giving it a try, I guess."

"Excuse me, Miss Filia – that is your name, right?" he said, cautiously stepping closer to the priestess. "Can you tell me why you included that purple elf into the 'Tower in the Snow'?"

"You mean the elf of mysteries?" Filia spoke absent-mindedly without thinking or turning her head; her eyes and thoughts were glued to the surreal scene on the stage. "The characters in my stories are usually inspired by people I know, and there was a--" Her eyes widening in realization, she quickly put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, no!!"

She instantly knew it was too late. The crab-man stumbled back a step like he was hit by something, but then he shouted in an ecstatic voice:

"It's really her, I can't believe it! Everyone, she's here! Filia Ul Copt, the Queen of Fairy Tales is right here!!"

The dragoness screamed.

In the same moment, Xelloss' fifth 'ultimate devastating attack' resulted in yet another small, harmless cloud of smoke somewhere in the sorceress' vicinity.

"Unthinkable! How can someone be capable of such skill? You are but a mere human!" the priest moaned with the credibility of the worst ham actor. "No, don't say a word, Lina Inverse! As I look into your eyes, the eyes which know neither fear nor hesitation, I can already tell: Their never wavering will alone can bring me to my knees. Don't look at me! Ah, I cannot endure the pain!" He dropped his staff, raising his hands bitterly towards the sky. "All my plans are for naught, evil never stands a chance – oh, what a cruel and unfair world do we live in, indeed!"

He ended his over-the-top monologue by toppling down to the stage like a log, and remained there, unmoving.

The sorceress suddenly felt that all eyes were on her, expectantly waiting what she would do next.

"What are you looking at?!" she snapped perplexedly at the audience. "I didn't do anything!"

The crowd once again broke out in laughter, and shortly afterwards, in thunderous applause. Hearing this, the mazoku removed his mask and slowly got off the ground. He smiled gently at the sorceress.

"Great punch line, Lina-san," he said. "I didn't overdo it too much, it seems."

"W-_What _did you do just now, exactly?" the sorceress stuttered.

"By myself? Nothing." Xelloss winked at her. "This is a two-person show, after all. Now, for instance," he took Lina by the hand, "we shall bow."

With that, he leaned forward, the sorceress hesitantly following his lead, while the audience's cheer magnified many fold.

"Holy moly!" the third judge exclaimed. "I don't know what that was, but it looked totally radical!"

"Astounding! I finally understand!" the older member of the jury said in awe. "What we thought was bad acting, the catchphrase, the yelling and now this – it was all actually a parody of Lina Inverse and her unrealistic and silly legends! It's pure genius!"

"Group scenes were not allowed by the competition rules," the female judge started sternly, but then gave a sigh."However, I have no choice but to bow before such an exceptional talent at humoresque."

She held up the paper depicting ten points; the two other members of the jury quickly followed suit.

"Making a fool of myself wasn't really what I had in mind," Lina muttered, scratching her head. Still, as she looked towards the priest, a tiny smile appeared in the corner of her lips. "Regardless, I gotta hand it to you, Xel. I've seen you fooling around a few times, but I can't believe you did that."

"Hmm, perhaps I can't either," Xelloss replied cheerfully, but the sorceress could also hear a strange kind of restraint in his voice. "Still, I just realized that we may not be on speaking terms with each other for a while, so I think it was worth it." He knitted his brows slightly, and spoke in a lower voice, almost to himself. "It is startling how I mixed up the two of you. I only have one possible explanation, but the chances for that are simply ridiculous… I guess I will find out soon enough."

"Xelloss, what the heck are you talking about? Stop speaking in riddles for once!" Lina said hurriedly; the rare melancholy in the priest's tone was beginning to make her truly worried.

_I knew he was planning something! But what??_

"Oh my, look, it seems Filia-san has become a grand attraction herself!" The mazoku turned towards the side of the stage without answering. Against her better judgment, the sorceress glanced in the same direction – and when she snapped her head back, Xelloss was no longer there.

"Darn it!!" She stomped her foot in anger.

"Wow, that's one crazy trick, he just blinked out like that!" the younger judge commented. "If I didn't know all about the stuff you can pull off on stage, maybe I'd say he really _is _a mazoku!"

_I guess these people are better off stupid – the truth would probably overload their brains,_ Lina thought with disgust as she hurried down the stairs of the stage.

"Let me through before I blast you away, damn you!" she growled, edging through the mass of people who surrounded the dragoness. "Xelloss might have gotten away, Filia, but you won't! I had enough of secrets for today; I want to hear what is going on here right now!"

"T-This is not what it l-looks like, Lina-san!" The priestess had to struggle to even turn her face towards the sorceress. Men and women of all ages were clinging to her, yelling, and shoving all kinds of books into her face, from small paperbacks to bigger, hard covered ones – what all of them had in common was the writer's name on the cover, 'Filia Ul Copt'.

"Filia-sama, I can't believe I finally get to see you!" one of them squealed. "Sign my book, please!"

"Mistress Filia, I grew up on your stories!" another one yelled. "And you're still so young! Is what the rumors say really true? Are you the incarnation of Aqualord Ragradia?"

"You're the greatest writer ever, Filia!"

"Miss Ul Copt, marry me!"

_Not what it looks like, she says? Wha__t does this look like, exactly??_

Tried as she might, Lina couldn't get close – the priestess was surrounded by an impenetrable living wall. She thought about fulfilling her earlier threat and scattering the crowd with a loud Burst Rondo, when the voice of the older dragon stopped her.

"Filia is the author of several successful fairy-tale anthologies." Milgazia stood next to Lina; his eyes were on the struggling dragoness as he spoke. "She was invited here by the organizers of the fair to take part in a dedication event later today."

"…You're joking again, right?" Lina let out a small forced laugh.

"I am not." The dragon elder shook his head. "It all started with the so-called 'bedtime stories' she told Val; while such things aren't known to our kind, the boy lives mostly among you, so he requested it. And obviously, during the last century Filia had plenty of time to hone her skills as a storyteller."

"One day, a neighbor heard Mom telling me one of the stories," the young ancient dragon joined the conversation; his disinterested expression suggested that he was seeing such a scene for the umpteenth time. "She told her that she should write them down, and then made a copy for herself. The people in town liked the stories so much that they began copying them among each other, and a little later those papers reached a real printing house in Zephiel City. Things went kinda insane after that."

The sorceress stared at the surrounded golden dragon with her mouth hanging slightly open.

"I understand what you're saying, but… Filia, a writer??" she whispered. "What are her stories about?"

Both Milgazia and Val fell suspiciously silent. As she looked from one to the other, the sorceress spotted a book on the ground; someone must have dropped it in their haste, and now it was already trampled over by countless fans. Filia found a tiny crack in her organic prison just in time to see Lina reach down, dust it off a bit, and open it at the table of contents.

"No, stop!!" she screamed, using her draconic strength to thrust a dozen people aside, and ran to the sorceress. "Lina-san, there's nothing interesting in it, I swear!" She sounded like she was pleading for mercy. "Please, _please _don't read it!"

"Oh stuff it already; I'm only checking out the story titles!" Lina replied as she skimmed through the page curiously. "Let's see… The Adventures of Mina the Sorceress." She grinned. "Hey, that's what Nellie was talking about earlier! …The Girl Who Slew Monsters with Her Laugh – wait, is that Naga?? … The Princess and the Grumpy Chimera... What do you know, it's Amelia and Zel! This is great! And the next one is… uhm…"

She slowly raised her head from the book, her eyes fixed on Filia, who shrunk back instantly.

"The Greediest Sorceress in the World?!" she read the words in disbelief. "The Fearsome Dragon Spooker?! ... The Two Adventurers Who Ate So Much That They Exploded??!"

"Please believe me, Lina-san, I didn't know these tales would end up like this!" the dragoness wailed. "They were just small, innocent bedtime stories, honest--" Her sentence ended abruptly as she heard a sound she never thought she would.

Lina was laughing. It was not an angry, ominous cackle either, but honest, unbridled mirth.

"Hehehe, they exploded!" She slapped her forehead. "Haha, that's a good one!"

"Y-You mean you're not mad?" Val asked incredulously.

"I don't know, it's kind of endearing for some reason," the sorceress admitted. "You know, when I was travelling around with Naga, it almost happened for real. I forced myself to eat even more than usual, hoping to pick up some weight here and there. It felt like I could explode at any moment, but I never got heavier by a pound, hehe!"

Milgazia gave a pleased nod. "You see, Lina has no problems with it," he told the priestess. "It looks like there wasn't any reason to be so nervous after all."

"Although, Filia," there was something dangerous in Lina's smile now as she looked at her, "if I had found my name written in there too, we'd be having a very different conversation right now, I hope you know that."

"Or maybe there was," the older dragon quickly corrected himself.

"Y-Yes, Lina-san, I u-understand," Filia stuttered, still in fright, but her voice noticeably calmer with the sense of imminent doom gone.

"Anyway," the sorceress said as she closed the book, "I think I know someone in our company who'd appreciate your work more than any of us. Did you hear this, Nellie?" She glanced around, looking for the girl. "Filia is a fairy tale genius! Maybe you should ask her to tell you a few-- Hey, where _is _that kid?"

She spun around a few times, but to no avail; as far as her eyes could see in the dense crowd, Nellie was nowhere to be found.

"She was there right next to the stage when Mom was run down by all those people," Val spoke unsurely, glancing from the teddy bear in his arms to the spot he mentioned, which was now empty save for a few bystanders.

"Come here sweetheart, this is not the time to play games! Nellie!" Lina yelled worriedly, not receiving any answer. Her eyes were frantically scanning the crowd over and over in vain; she could not see farther than twenty feet or so, and even that view got more and more obscured by the incoming second wave of Filia's fan army. The sorceress gritted her teeth. "Alright, that's _it_! BOMB DI WIND!"

An immensely powerful gust of wind boomed forth of her extended arm, depositing those in its way on the other side of the town square. The stage creaked painfully in the sudden hurricane, the set tumbling over; sounds of people screaming and cursing filled the air. The city guards stationed next to the stage tried to make their way towards Lina, but she blew them away with a second casting of the spell, and repeated the process until most of the square's center was empty. While it was not obvious at first glance, she had more in mind than just making room: She manipulated the spell's form so its effects never extended below her shoulder line, meaning those of lower height remained unaffected.

_Come on Nellie, you have to be here somewhere!_

To her disappointment, however, the area she swept clean was indeed almost completely empty. Only a couple of Filia's books littered the ground, dropped by their owners during their sudden trip through the air. Some of the pages were even torn out by the wind, but as the sorceress looked over the scene once more with growing anxiety, she noticed a piece of paper among them which looked somewhat out of place.

After she ran to it to pick it up, her suspicion was confirmed: the sheet was slightly creased and its edges were purposely blackened to achieve an aged impression – this piece was never part of any book. Scribbled on it hastily were just a few lines of barely legible text; as she began to read, her eyes slowly narrowed into ruby-colored slits.

_To Mina the Sorceress,_

_We got your kid. If you want to have her back, you have to take her from us. You can find our base not far from here at the Pleasantlyrich Estate. Come if you dare._

_Yours faithfully,_

_The__ Baron of Evil_

As she finished reading, Lina noticed the two golden dragons peering over her shoulder, while Val tried to lean in from the side.

"Nellie was kidnapped??" Filia whispered, looking aghast.

"Is this Xelloss' doing?" Milgazia asked, only half-heartedly trying to hide his anger.

"Judging from how he just disappeared, it sure looks like it, but this ugly-looking letter isn't his style." The sorceress crumpled the paper in her hands furiously. "I didn't pay enough attention, damn it! All this stuff about Xelloss being moody, Filia being secretive, the fair and the oddball contest made me totally forget that these guys were still looking for Nellie! And by coming to this square full of people, I actually served them the perfect opportunity on a silver platter! Stupid, stupid, _stupid_!!"

"Lina-san," Filia stood in front of her, "let me go with you. I know where the Pleasantlyrich Estate is, the three of us passed by it on our way here."

"You know where they are?" The sorceress' head snapped up in surprise.

"Yes, but that's not all. You saw the greeting on the message, right?" The dragoness' looked her in the eye, her tone determined, all previous anxiety gone. "It wasn't addressed to you, but to Mina the Sorceress – the main character of one of my stories. Whoever they are, the kidnappers want something from me as well."

"That could be true, but our names are awfully similar," Lina argued. "The whole thing was written down pretty quickly from the looks of it… it could have been a mistake."

"I don't think it was," Val piped in. "After Mina defeats the trolls of the Evil Overlord, the bad guy sends her a very similar letter to lure her into a trap. Even the paper looked old and creased just like in the story!"

The sorceress still did not look convinced, but Milgazia cut short any further attempts at debate.

"Lina, we better decide things quickly, it looks like you've managed to anger the local human authorities," he said, gesturing towards the stage. While they have been arguing, several units of city guards had arrived as reinforcements, and were using the wooden structure for cover as they edged closer, swords drawn.

_Like_ _that stage would stop any of my spells… No, forget it. There are other people I want to take out my anger on right now, anyway._

"As long as you'll get me to the kidnappers, I don't care about the details, so lead the way!" Lina declared quickly.

"Right! Milgazia-sama, please look after Val," Filia asked the older dragon as she closed her eyes and spread her arms, her face becoming lined with effort.

"Of course, don't worry. We'll meet you at the inn in the evening." Milgazia gave a small reassuring nod to the dragoness and put his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Hey wait, I want to go too--!" Before Val could finish, the two disappeared in a flash of golden light.

In the same moment, the priestess let out a robust yell. Her form began to shine brightly and grow, while the sound of her voice became echoed and louder – no longer the voice of a human, but the roar of a dragon. The guards halted their advancement, and watched in terror as she spread her two enormous, scaled wings, covering half of the town square in shadow.

_I don't_ _know about Val, but Filia _had _grown bigger since I've last seen her like this._

"Hop on, Lina-san," the dragoness' voice boomed as she leant her head down to the ground. "I've never been within the estate itself, so I can't teleport us there – I might have to search a little from the air to find it."

"Who'd want to miss a ride like that?" Lina grinned and jumped on Filia's back, grabbing on to the fine, hair-like scales on her head to steady herself. The priestess flapped her wings, creating yet another windstorm, and slowly took off the ground.

Half of the guests of Atlas City's First Annual Fairy Tale Fair looked on in both awe and fear as the great golden dragon disappeared into the sky – the other half just cheered on like mad.

"Wow, look at that! Filia-sama is a real dragon! Isn't she dreamy??"

_End of Part Two._


	5. Happily Ever After, part 3

**Chapter 3. Happily Ever After – Part 3.**

The lieutenant took to one knee on the marble foor before the armored figure.

"All preparations are complete, my Lord, as you wished. If the sorceress is stupid enough to come anywhere near the building, she's as good as dead."

A chuckle escaped the black helmet. "Oh, I don't think so."

The mercenary looked up at his employer with an affronted expression.

"My lord, you underestimate me. She might have surprised us once, but now _she's_ the one coming to _us_, and I have more than fifty men all around the place armed with--"

"I am not worried about our defenses, lieutenant," the other man cut him off. "But the heroic rescue will end _here_, between her and me – it's simply impossible for it to happen any other way."

"Whatever you say," the mercenary grumbled. "Any further orders?"

"The time has come to put my plan into motion," the armored figure spoke, sounding to be deep in thought. "Lead the troll squad on their assault against Mina!"

The lieutenant rose from his place hesitantly, looking slightly embarrassed.

"My lord, do I really have to? And besides, I don't think that sorceress is called Mina at all--"

"Do as I say!" The assertive order left no room for opposition. "I pay you to obey, no to talk back!"

"Of course, can't argue with that," the mercenary said bitterly as he spun around and headed out of the hall to get dressed. "I guess I can't get myself any lower than I already am, so who cares?"

* * *

The Pleasantlyrich Estate was huge – that much quickly became apparent to the sorceress as Filia slowly descended from the altitude of a thousand feet, having spotted their destination. Its area was easily twice that of Atlas City; while almost entirely covered by a natural forest, its boundaries could still be seen thanks to the tall stone wall placed on the perimeter, which rose even above the trees. Lina thought at first that the owners might have wished for some privacy or enhanced security, but as they drew closer to the main entrance, and she realized that it was nothing more than a pair of ornate but not at all durable railed steel gates, it became obvious that they were just trying to show off to their neighbors.

_Probably a bunch of vulgarians who recently got themselves more money than they could handle - I sure never heard of anyone with such a name before._

The estate's lush vegetation also posed a real problem. The kidnappers' hideout, or any other building for that matter, remained well-hidden in the forest canopy, making it difficult to spot and fly there directly.

"Put me down at the gate!" Lina shouted to the dragoness through the howling of the wind. "I'll try to find the place on foot; there must be some trails or roads I can follow. I will shoot a Lighting spell into the air from time to time so if you have better luck, you'll know where to find me."

"But those balls of light will alert everyone that we're here!" Filia replied worriedly.

"So what? They were expecting me to come, anyway." The sorceress smirked. "Our hosts probably have a couple of surprises in store, and I would hate to disappoint them."

"That's so typical of you, Lina-san," the dragoness said disapprovingly as she flapped her wings one final time to slow their descent, and landed smoothly in the small clearing on the inner side of the gate. "It's almost as if you'd think it's impolite not to walk into every single trap your enemies have set up."

Lina slid down Filia's back and then jumped into the grass. "All the more fun it is to see those traps blow up right in their faces," she commented, although her tone was not nearly as carefree as her words would have suggested. "I'm not going to go easy on these lowlifes," she added with ire. "_Nobody_ kidnaps my kids and gets away with it."

"I-I'll be checking out the area from above then," Filia spoke as she took off the ground once more. Part of her was very eager to get farther away; the sorceress had a certain look in her eyes which foretold imminent danger, chaos and destruction on a massive scale.

As the dragoness' form disappeared over the forest, Lina glanced back at the gate; the metal bars of the arc above the doors spelled out the words 'The Pleasantlyrich Estate' with crude letters – the sign was only readable from inside, as if the owners have made it for themselves, not to inform anyone passing by their home.

"Either that, or they were just idiots," she spoke, gradually raising her voice. "Just like the ones who try sneaking up behind my back right now!" She spun around and blindly fired off a spell. "SCATTER BRID!"

Countless tiny, fizzling balls of electricity swarmed the field, forcing back the dozen hulking figures, who had charged at her from the forest.

_Trolls? No, wait; they are… you got to be kidding me…_

The people in front of her did look a lot like trolls – but only because they were wearing a costume. Not just any kind of costume, either: it was a puffy, bloated design with blue cotton wrapping and wadded lining which completely encircled the wearer. The mouths of the unproportionallybig troll heads were set into an imbecile grin – the thought occurred to the sorceress that if Nellie had seen these at the fair, she probably would have found them adorable.

"…Can you even move in that thing?" the question slipped out of her mouth.

"Well, the legs aren't so bad, but the arms – pretty hopeless, we can't even hold a weapon in it," one of the fake trolls, distinguished by an eye patch over his blobby head, answered in a dull voice. "We're just here because our employer told us that you had to be attacked by trolls on your way here, even if we don't have any of them. It's about 'historical accuracy', or whatever he calls it."

_Looks like Filia really is on to something; even if that something is getting more ridiculous by the minute._

"Be careful with her, boss!" another man in costume warned his leader. "The girl even came with a real golden dragon and everything, just like in the story! Maybe the baron was right, and--"

"Quiet! It's just a coincidence, nothing more!" the first 'troll' snapped, before turning back to the sorceress. "So, now that we're done here, how about you let us go back to our base and then we can all pretend this never happened? Fighting us like this wouldn't be very fair after all, right?"

For a second, Lina made a face like she was seriously considering his offer - but then her mouth twisted into an evil grin.

"I don't like being fair when it comes to scum like you… lieutenant."

"Darn, how did you guess--?!"

"MEGA BRAND!"

The mercenaries screamed as the exploding earth under their feet blasted them all sky-high. Their sound became increasingly quiet as they went higher and higher – but grew louder again once gravity took its toll, and finally, they landed at the sorceress' feet in a cloud of dirt.

"Unngh… Damn you…" the exposed mercenary leader moaned from the ground. "No money is worth this much… But wait, my bones are still in one piece! The costume actually broke my fall! Hah, take that, sorceress!" he guffawed. "Your little tricks are useless against--"

"MEGA BRAND, number two!"

"Gwaaaaaaaah!"

Lina watched with amusement as the men rocketed into the sky once more.

_I think I just found a great new way to pass the time.

* * *

_

Filia barely finished flying through the estate and back in a straight line once, when she saw a small, but bright speck of light rising from below the treetops, not far from the place where she and Lina split up.

"She couldn't have found their base already, what happened? Is she in trouble?" the dragoness muttered worriedly; she dove a bit lower, just above the canopy line to gain speed, trying to get there as quickly as possible.

She was still a fifth mile away from the light, when she heard a yell exactly below her:

"Hey, Filia, over here!"

Recognizing the sorceress' voice, the priestess took a sharp turn towards the sound, and spotted Lina running on a wide ballast road. She did not notice it at first because of all the tall trees surrounding it; her friend's form randomly appeared and disappeared among the leaves.

"What is it, Lina-san?" she asked while she reduced her flight speed to match that of the sorceress.

"I found the road which will get us to their hideout!" Lina shouted back. "The goons who just tried to attack me have fled this way, and after the yoyo-experience I gave them, I don't think misleading me is on top of their to-do list right now. They will lead us right to their--" She skidded to a halt. "Oops, spoke too soon."

The sorceress stood in a junction. The road separated completely symmetrically to the right and the left; there was no sign of the fleeing mercenaries on either branch. Barely finding enough space, Filia landed on the gravel; while her height gave her a better perspective, she looked just as clueless about which road to take.

"Uhm, Filia… Is that what I think it is?" Lina pointed at a small sign nailed to the tree which stood right at the intersection.

_BEWARE THE BEAVER_

"If you mean the sign which the Evil Overlord used to scare away intruders – yes, this looks just like it." The dragoness nodded. "See, Lina-san, I told you there was a connection."

"I've been convinced already by the previous merry team of trolls," the sorceress said, folding her arms. "But seriously, what is that Baron of Evil thinking? Does he hope that if he sends some beaver covered in purple paint against us, we might laugh ourselves to death?"

No sooner those words left her mouth when a fifteen foot tall and thirty foot long, purple colored monstrous beaver sprang forth from the forest. Its two long teeth were grinded into sharp, pointed fangs; its fur was ragged, with patches of black upsetting the dark purple hue. The nails on its claws were long and looked razor-sharp; when it opened its huge mouth and let out a ferocious roar, it reminded Lina of an overgrown lion – with a ridiculous, huge, flat, flapping tail.

_Me and my big mouth._

With unnatural speed, the beaver turned around and struck at them with its enormous tail. Its aim looked to be slightly off, as the blow was too high and easily missed the sorceress without her even ducking, but the trees in the way were not so lucky: they tumbled down left and right, and in moments Lina found herself in the middle of an impromptu clearing.

"How could they keep this thing from demolishing the countryside until now?!" she exclaimed, jumping back to gain some space, while the creature, apparently dissatisfied with the results of its previous attack, began to charge at her.

Its way was quickly blocked, however; Filia jumped between the beaver and the sorceress, her movement making the ground tremble. The monstrous mammal was unable to slow down in time, and literally bounced off the dragoness' though hide. Filia reached out with her claws, grabbed the creature by one of its hind legs, whirled around and let go, launching it into the forest. The beaver slid a good two hundred feet before stopping, rooting up trees and digging up the earth around it, creating a deep trench along the way.

"Go on ahead, Lina-san, I will take care of this," the priestess said while the creature struggled to its feet. "The beaver came from the path to our right, so there's a good chance you can find Nellie's kidnappers in that direction."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Lina asked, using the Levitation spell to cut across a couple of tree trunks; the surrounding area now bore more resemblance to a pile of Mikado sticks, rather than a forest. "That beast looks pretty persistent."

"Don't worry about it," Filia replied confidently. "I'm a golden dragon; considering who we're up against, I am the perfect person for the job, remember?"

"Right, how could I forget," muttered the sorceress. "Be careful then and come after me later!" she called as she finally reached the perimeter of the 'clearing', and broke into a run along the ballast road.

She hustled on for several minutes. Even without looking back, she could tell that the battle between the priestess and the beaver began to escalate: their bout literally shook the countryside time and time again. As she slowed down a bit to avoid being tripped by the latest earthquake, Lina saw a glimmer of white among the trees ahead where the road turned, looking to be part of a wall.

Reducing her speed even more, she left the path and crept closer towards it; after only a few steps, she beheld the structure in its entirety: An illustrious, two-storey high mansion with a bright red mansard roof, its walls nearly sparkling with white. From the carefully crafted window frames to the sleek stone pillars which held the terrace on the first floor and provided a portico for the building's entrance, everything bore witness to delicate craftsmanship – breathtaking, but also quite perplexing to find in the middle of a forest.

_The Pleasantlyrich folks might not be paranoid, but they sure are reclusive._

Despite not being the expected fortress of terror, the mansion looked pretty well guarded. The sorceress spotted around twenty sword-wielding guards around the building and on the terrace, with probably many more in hiding; all of them awaiting her arrival.

Lina furrowed her brows in thought.

_If I want to get in, then I think it's high time for me to do something which _isn't_ in the story.

* * *

_

The walls of the mansion shook once again. The lieutenant stepped through the half-closed double doors of the main hall with a sour look on his face, and bumped into a guard who was rushing to get in at the same moment.

"Hey you! Do you know anything about what the heck is going on?!" the mercenary leader demanded. "We didn't leave that many bombs in the forest, what's happening out there?"

"Boss, according to the sentries on lookout, the last thing they saw was a golden dragon and a giant beaver-like thing tearing each other apart just a mile from here!" his subordinate replied in a shaky voice.

"Those useless clowns; they're drunk already?" the lieutenant spat. "Do they at least have any idea where the sorceress is?"

"They think she's already here," the guard said meekly. "But we don't know for sure."

"What do you mean by 'not for sure?!" The mercenary leader stepped to one of the nearby windows of the corridor. "Did using your eyes become a luxury for you idiots? We can watch every tree leave around the mansion from the inside, there's no way the sorceress can-- What the hell?!" he cried out as he realized that he could not see out of the window; behind the glass was nothing but a gray haze.

"That's what I've been trying to report," the guard explained. "Watch out, boss; don't try opening the window, or all the smoke will start pouring in."

As the lieutenant realized what happened, his expression was taken over by rage.

"That… That insane witch!!" he yelled, beside himself. "She'd set the forest on fire!" He then began to run through the corridor, angrily barking orders to all he met. His subordinate watched him leave, before he realized why he came in the first place and quickly entered the hall.

"My lord, the sorceress--"

"I know. No need to worry, she just wants to show us that she has arrived," the Baron of Evil spoke to the man from across the room.

The mercenary nodded, forcing himself to take on something which was as close as he could manage to a confident look. "We will not be beaten by such a measly girl, right, my Lord?"

"Such a thing will never happen, as long as I am here," the armored figure replied. "Of course, some losses are unavoidable; it is possible that all you faceless minions will die before I claim victory, but rest assured: my success is inevitable."

Judging from his shocked expression, the guard did not find this reassuring at all. "Faceless… minion? W-What do you mean by that?" he stuttered.

"What, have you been hoping that you are important in this somehow?" The baron shrugged. "You are just one of the many hired blades in my service, a small, expendable pawn in the grand scheme of things. When someone will write a story of my glorious deeds, if you are mentioned at all, you will surely not be named; I don't think even_ I_ remember your name, to tell the truth. The author will just use the words 'guard' or 'mercenary' to refer to you – yes, I can almost see him struggling with the problem of finding a third fitting word, but to no avail. You are simply not worth the effort."

"But… but I'm not a faceless minion!" the mercenary insisted, sounding earnestly frightened now. "I can tell you my name, my Lord, if you don't remember; I am called--"

Another tremor shook the mansion, the rattling of metal muting out the rest of his words. Noticing a couple of shadows from the corner of his eye, the guard turned his head to the side, and saw several suits of armor, moved from their resting place at the wall, falling right towards him. He had no time to react; all he could do was to let out a small yelp, before he disappeared under the pile of steel.

If the Baron of Evil noticed this, he paid it no mind. He sat in his chair in a carefree posture, and rubbed his glowed hands together in anticipation.

"Come, sorceress," he muttered. "I can hardly wait to turn those so-called laws of your world upside down."

* * *

"Status report! Now!" the lieutenant yelled at his subordinates as he threw the doors open and ran out to the terrace above the mansion's entrance. The two men were sitting on the floor, leaning against the parapet, caught in a perpetual coughing fit because of the dense smoke.

"We… lost contact with the others patrolling the ground below, boss," one of them managed to say. "They disappeared… *cough* behind the building and never came back. We also can't see the enemy anywhere."

Just by glancing around once, the mercenary leader knew it would be impossible to spot the sorceress. The forest was burning like a torch all around the mansion; given how close the building was to it, it was a miracle in itself that the fire had not spread to the structure yet.

"Damn you, woman, are you suicidal?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs into the fire. "You'll burn yourself to death this way too! And did you forget that if you bring the place down, that precious kid of yours will be reduced to ashes right along with us?!"

His outburst was mostly meant to blow off steam, as he did not really expect the sorceress to hear him – but to his surprise, a female voice replied from right in front of the terrace.

"Hey, you ought to give me a little more credit than that!"

A figure appeared between the burning tree branches; the flames looked to be shying away from her black-and-white clothing as she approached in the air, kept afloat by the Levitation spell's current of wind, which encircled her form in an aura of bright red sparks. Even the scowling lieutenant took a step back as she landed on the parapet, the dissipating wind magic blowing her surroundings clear of smoke.

"First of all, as long as I'm in these clothes, I don't have to worry about the heat." Lina smirked. "Second, I only set the perimeter around the mansion ablaze, and it's going to stay that way because…" She snapped her fingers. The flames behind her began to swirl in unusual directions, growing, reaching well above the treetops; two small specks of blue appeared in the middle of the orange tongues, suspiciously reminding the mercenaries of glowing, fearsome eyes. "… this fire only goes where I want it to." She turned her head back slightly. "Flame golem, say hello to these jerks."

A mouth of bright yellow flames appeared below the pair of eyes, and the magical construct let out a haunting howl.

"Golems are usually made from earth, but you can substitute another element almost as easily," Lina explained with amusement as the lieutenant and his men began to back away towards the terrace doors, clearly shaken. "I would congratulate myself for such a great idea, but I actually learned it from an old friend. That won't make _your_ life much easier though." She extended her left arm towards them. The golem mimicked her gesture: a burst of flame roughing resembling a gigantic hand sprang forth from the burning trees, and approached dangerously towards the mercenaries. "So, what will it be? If you tell me where Nellie is kept, I might settle with making you only moderately crispy."

The mercenary leader finally managed to overcome his fear, and stood his ground.

"You just made a mistake, sorceress," he snarled. "By dispersing the smoke around you, you ruined your own cover." He raised his head and yelled, "Gunmen, you have a clear view of the target, shoot her already! If she dies, the golem goes with her too!"

Garret windows from both sides of the terrace burst open, revealing several men armed with muskets, ready to shoot.

_Drat, not those stupid boomsticks again!_

A century after their introduction to the lands within the former mazoku barrier, guns were still very expensive pieces of weaponry, but they were often worth the price, as even one was able to turn an ordinary foot soldier from a minor annoyance to a serious threat to magic users; a lucky shot could even pierce through a wind barrier.

"Fire!" the lieutenant commanded. Lina jumped backwards, off the terrace just in the nick of time; several bullets whizzed over her head, barely missing.

"So much for _that_ plan," she muttered as she landed in the grass and ran into the portico to disappear from the musketeers' view. "Make sure nobody gets in or out!" she snapped her head back to instruct the golem, and then made her way towards the main entrance.

* * *

The giant beaver pounced on the dragoness, knocking her off balance and forcing her to the ground. Filia grunted as her back hit the devastated forest floor; the monstrous creature climbed on her chest and let out a deafening roar into her face.

"Get… _off_!" she shouted, opening her mouth wide. The beaver barely managed to jump off her, evading the burst of crystalline light, the golden dragons' unique 'laser breath', which disappeared harmlessly into the sky.

Filia climbed to her feet. She was getting tired, and the fight had not gone well at all. While she had an obvious advantage in physical strength, and the beaver could not land a single blow, it almost always managed to dodge her, and even in the few occasions she managed to catch it, the creature shrugged off all the punishment she dished out.

"I don't have this much time to waste with you!" the dragoness growled, extending a clawed hand towards her opponent. "This isn't a very fair thing to do, but… _Anaku ra zuomu, lanaku solum izpek naomu…_ FLAME BLESS!"

Golden fire burst from the ground around the beaver, scorching its hide; instead of crying out in pain, however, the creature made a strangely human-like gesture with one of its fore legs – and the flames disappeared.

"It-- It managed to ruin my spell just like that?!" the priestess whispered. Her shock increased many fold when the beaver gave a sheepish shrug in reply.

"Oh dear, looks like I gave myself away, didn't I?" it said. Then the creature vanished in the blink of an eye; a dark-haired man with a wooden staff stood in its place.

"Xelloss??!" the dragoness cried out. "The beaver… it was _you_?!"

"Well, yes." The mazoku put a hand behind his head. "The mercenaries originally put a stuffed animal here, filled with gunpowder and other explosives, but that did not look nearly as interesting as an idea. This also came in handy to get you and Lina-san separated; if you two complete the rescue a bit too quickly, it could jeopardize my own plans for this event."

"_Your_ plans?! What plans--?" Filia began, but the priest merely put an index finger to his lips, and she knew right away that the question was not worth finishing. She turned her head in the direction the sorceress ran, and noticed smoke rising from the forest. "Lina-san must have found their base already - you can keep your secrets to yourself, Xelloss, I'm going after her right now!" she snorted, about to take off the ground, when the mazoku appeared directly above her.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that," he said with a smile, pointing his staff at the dragoness.

Filia felt the earth crack beneath her, suddenly unable to support her weight, and she began to sink like she was standing on quicksand. She desperately flapped her wings to get free, but she had sunk too deep already, and the devastated forest around her offered nothing she could cling to for support. In a few moments, she was buried neck-deep into the earth; then her descent stopped as quickly as it began.

"You won't get away with this, you demon!" she shrieked, launching another bolt of laser breath from her mouth towards Xelloss, who effortlessly floated out of the way.

"My most sincere apologies, Filia-san," he descended to the ground, "I also enjoyed our battle immensely, but we have no time to continue at the moment. If you'll excuse me…" His staff raised to a mock salute, the priest disappeared.

Filia was left alone, her head sticking out of the ground among the pile of uprooted trees like a sea monster out of its element, and wondered embarrassedly what the others would say if they could see her like this.

* * *

Lina put her hands carefully on the thick wooden door, glancing at the polished sign above it which read 'Pleasantlyrich Mansion', in similar, simplistic lettering like that on the gate at the edge of the estate.

_In case someone had doubts, I guess,_ she thought. _Okay then, one, two... three!_

"DAMU BRASS!" The same second the door burst into countless splinters, the sorceress lunged forward into the building, using the dust cloud from the explosion to gain a second to look around from her crouched position.

There were three sword-wielding guards in the oil lamp-lit anteroom: two next to the entrance and one a bit further in, near a coat rack on the wall. A pair of quick Flare Arrows sent the former two sprawling on the floor; the third one had enough time to react, but chose to simply charge at Lina with a loud battle cry, which proved to be a mistake. A strong gust of wind blew him back, breaking the coat rack in two and smashing his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious.

The sorceress hesitated as she regarded the stairway at the opposite end of the room; she figured Nellie would likely be kept in a spare bedroom or something similar on the first floor, but the biggest force of mercenaries was also right above her, up the stairs.

_Instead of offering them free target practice, maybe I should let them come to _me_._

She did not have to wait for long: a guard with a musket in his hands came running down the stairs, almost tumbling down in his haste.

"She's here, boss!" he yelled, raising his weapon to shoot, but this time the sorceress was ready for him.

"AQUA CREATE!"

Firearms were powerful weapons, but had one serious weakness: if the gunpowder got wet, the gun could no longer fire. And as the stream of water, shooting out abruptly from the floor, soaked the mercenary from head to toe, that definitely was the case. The flabbergasted man continued to pull the trigger again and again in denial, before a second wave of compressed air introduced him to the floor.

_Four down, at least two dozen more to go!_

"Stop, you fools!" an irritated shout could be heard from above. Lina recognized the lieutenant's voice. "Don't just rush at her blindly, that's how we lost the last time!" The sound of footsteps coming from the stairway, which signaled the arrival of more adversaries, ceased at once. "A group of five will go down together. If you see the sorceress, shoot right away, don't let her cast a spell!"

Lina's mouth curved into a frown. The mercenary leader had a usable plan: while she could have handled five musketeers just as easily, that many opponents left her less time to keep her magic under strict control – and accidentally leveling the building was not an option. She needed to find a room with a smaller entrance which she could use as a bottleneck to slow the enemy down.

In addition to the stairway and the main entrance, there were two more ways to leave the anteroom: the doors on the left and right wall looked completely identical, save for the crudely written signs above them.

_'Pleasantlyrich parlor'… 'Pleasantlyrich corridor number three'… This is getting really freaky._

After a second of thought, the sorceress ran to the door on her right, threw it open with a forceful kick and peered inside, a ball of flame in her hands at the ready. The sign did not lie: Ahead of her was long, straight corridor. Oil lamps provided illumination here as well due to the lack of windows; ugly portraits of even uglier nobles lined the walls, along with at least a dozen doors on either side, all of them with signs of the same style as before. She also noticed how _clean_ everything looked; there was not a speck of dust or the smallest smudge on the floor or the walls.

No guards were in sight, so Lina dispelled her Fireball and began to run through the corridor, keeping her eyes on the text above the entryways to see if one of the rooms could be of some use to her.

_Pleasantlyrich bathroom – no, probably too small… Pleasantlyrich dance hall – no, too big… Pleasantlyri-- yuck, there's no way I'm going in there! _She finally stopped by the next door._ Hmm, this will do._

Lina stepped into the (Pleasantlyrich) kitchen. It looked unused, although still spotlessly clean like the corridor before. The rays of sunlight coming from the latticed windows fell upon the round table in the middle, while numerous white cupboards filled the empty space of the wall, all of them closed except for one cubbyhole at floor level – of which a pair of legs was sticking out.

"Did you find some food?" the sorceress spoke in a curious tone, walking closer.

"Yeah, check it out! You wouldn't believe all the stuff these people have!" a male voice said from within the cupboard.

Lina swallowed hard, looking sorely tempted for a moment; but then she kicked the legs further in, and blocked the cupboard door with a chair to lock the snack-snatching guard inside.

"No food for you on rescue missions, Lina. Remember when you last tried casting a Dragon Slave with your mouth full," she murmured dejectedly to herself.

She quickly pushed the table to the other, larger door leading out of the kitchen, and stood in front of the only remaining entryway. No more than two people could fit through it at once; this was exactly the situation she wanted. The sorceress waited patiently for the enemy to walk into her trap… and waited… and waited…

* * *

The lieutenant marched down the steep spiral staircase towards the basement floor, fuming and cursing under his breath.

"This place is full of morons! Those brain-dead mooks will accidentally shoot each other in the head if someone's not there to keep them in line, and what happens when I finally get them to put their act together to catch the sorceress? The great baron wants me to play fetch for him instead!" Reaching the bottom, he stood before a thick wooden door reinforced with iron bands, and impatiently sought for the keys in his pocket. "And to make things worse, that little brat drives me insane with her constant prattling; at least now she will be the baron's problem, not mine."

"It looks like my timing couldn't have been better then," a pleasant voice came from behind him. Turning around, the mercenary leader regarded the priest with a disturbed expression; he was sure he had not heard any footsteps approaching.

"W-What do you want now?" he snapped, the nervousness in his voice making him embarrassed – and even more angry, if that was even possible.

"I simply wish to have a word with your prisoner before you take her upstairs, nothing more." Xelloss' calm tone stood in stark contrast to the lieutenant's foul mood. "You have kept yourself to what we discussed earlier, I trust?"

"Yes, my employer doesn't know anything about the tip you gave us." The mercenary leader nodded curtly. "I just told him that we followed the sorceress and that is how we've found the opportunity to catch the girl at the fair."

"Very good." The mazoku smiled. With a creak, the basement door slowly swung open. "Please wait here for a little while," he told the lieutenant, and walked into the dark room.

It was difficult to see anything whatsoever; the light coming from the staircase only illuminated a narrow square of the wall directly in front of the door. Xelloss looked unfazed by this as he approached one of the back corners with resolute steps, apparently guided by senses other than sight – but a high-pitched wail did manage to freeze him in place.

"Booooo…!" The voice came from the corner. "I'm the ghost of the purple beeeaver! Give me my head baaack!"

"Nellie-chan?" The priest raised an eyebrow. The gem on the top of his staff began to glow with a greenish light, exposing the little girl who stood right in front of him, trying to twist her face into the scariest expression she could come up with.

"Oh, Uncle Xelloss, it's you!" she yelled in surprise. "I thought it was that stupid guy with the eye patch. He really hates it when I do things like this."Adding an impish grin, she continued in an excited tone. "Guess what, I've been kidnapped! The bad guys here have lots of guns, swords, a big evil base with a dark dungeon and everything! Isn't it super?"

The mazoku delayed his response for a second as he studied the girl's features, his smile gaining a tiny speck of disappointment to its curve. "You're not the slightest bit afraid, are you?" he finally said in a low, soft voice.

"Nope!" Nellie giggled. "This is really fun!"

He cocked his head to the side. "Then let me ask your favorite question: why? You are alone in a pitch black basement room, in a building filled by ruthless hessians who'd kill without batting an eye. Why doesn't that bother you?"

"Well, they're the bad guys, so they are going to get their butts kicked soon," the child replied with a shrug. "Plus you already came to rescue me!"

The priest's mouth twisted into a dark smirk. "Not quite."

"Oh," Nellie's face fell, but just for a second. "I guess I have to wait for Grandma Lina then," she asserted, putting her hands to her hips.

"What makes you think she will come?" Xelloss crouched down, and stared into the girl's face from behind his squinted eyelids. "Have you heard any news about her? I believe not. I personally haven't spoken with Lina-san ever since you were kidnapped at the fair – didn't you consider the possibility that she already gave up on finding you?" He leaned closer. "Or even worse, that she was defeated by those 'bad guys' you dismiss so easily?"

"N-No way!" Nellie huffed, folding her arms defiantly, but her resolve still noticeably wavered. "Grandma Lina is very strong, cool sorceress! She's… she's not going to lose just like that!"

"This world is not a fairy tale, Nellie-chan," the mazoku pressed on without skipping a beat. "Sometimes the Evil Overlords win and the brave sorceresses are defeated. Lina-san is no exception."

"Did… grandma lose a fight before?" the child asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"Yes, she has." Xelloss slowly nodded. "Lina-san has already lost many people she cared about. How would you know that you will not be the next one?"

"I… don't… but… but…" As if the air in the room had gotten cold, Nellie's hands moved to hug her own quivering form, but inexplicably halted after a second. She extended her arms instead, resting her hands on the priest's shoulders. "But that's still dumb, Uncle Xelloss, you shouldn't think like that…" She gazed at him with a pleading look. "My other grandma always says… if you think you'll lose, then you'll lose. Even if you had a one perci… perca…"

"Percent," the mazoku supplied her with the proper word without thinking, his eyes now wide open in shock.

"…a one percent chance to win… I don't really know what that is but it's very small… it would become a… a…"

"A 'big, fat zero'," Xelloss finished the quoted sentence in a whisper.

"Oh, did you know about that too?" Nellie asked, her face lighting up.

"Yes." The priest straightened and turned his back to her. "How very odd it is that we mazoku live by basically the same principle as well," he muttered.

He began to walk out of the room with small, dazed steps, the little girl looking after him confusedly.

"How incredibly, _infuriatingly_ odd…"

The lieutenant also watched with disbelief as the mazoku walked by, his open, demonic eyes staring into empty space.

"What's gotten into you?" he mumbled. "I don't know what that was all about, but if you want to frighten the girl, why don't you grab _her_ by the neck and threaten her with a slow, painful death like you did earlier?" The priest stopped, making the mercenary leader flinch, but he continued on regardless. "Or I don't know, how about setting her hair on fire? There's no way that stupid smile would stay on her face for long! I would've done something like that ages ago, if the baron hadn't forbidden me of putting her in her place!"

"Of course, well said, well said," Xelloss spoke without turning around, his voice laced with scorn. "I would not have expected anything more from a man like you."

"What?!" the lieutenant snapped.

"What is a child to you?" the mazoku asked in a conversational tone. "An annoyance, maybe? A fly that you can swat away if it becomes too troublesome? For us, humans like you are pretty much the same. Fleeting, insignificant, barely more than nothing. But if you are as of nothing, then a mere child is even less than nothing, isn't that right? If I do as you say, wouldn't I be admitting that I must treat her on the same level as you, as low as that might be?" He shook his head. "You probably cannot understand, but the 'victory' I would gain from such a course of action would be worse than any kind of defeat."

"You're right, I don't understand," the mercenary leader spat. "I think you're just being an idiot."

"Am I?" The man instantly regretted his heedless words as Xelloss turned his head back, his open eyes upon him. "Perhaps you will find this easier to grasp then. What do you see when you look into the mirror? A strong person who can hold his own in any battle? Allow me to tell you what I see: a small, fragile astral flame – your soul, almost begging to be snuffed out by my tiniest gesture, and you completely powerless to do anything about it." The lieutenant broke out in cold sweat, a sense of dread penetrating to the very core of his being. "The only reason we mazoku spare your kind from such a fate, my friend, is that we consider it to be beneath us – we will not do such a thing as there is no need for us to."

Without another word, the priest began to climb the steep stairway, quickly disappearing from view. Only when the last echoes of his footsteps died away did the mercenary leader find the will to move, kicking the wooden basement door several times with impotent fury.

* * *

_These guys are sure taking their time…_

Lina paced the kitchen, glancing impatiently towards the open door every few seconds. No guards appeared since what it seemed like an eternity, although the sorceress was sure they heard where she ran.

"Hey, blockheads, there's a dangerous intruder here who wants to foil all your plans!" she yelled in frustration. "How about you get your sorry butts over here and try stopping me?!"

"Sorry, but I just ate myself silly. Can't we wait for half an hour or so?"

The sorceress tried her best to ignore the voice coming from the cupboard, and absent mindedly picked up a glossy fork she found lying on the kitchen table. It was a stylized, artistic piece of cutlery, but that was not what made her eyes bulge:

'Pleasantlyrich Fork #35' was engraved on the reverse side, the crude-looking letters exactly the same as everywhere else.

"Give me a break!" Lina cried out, tossing the Pleasantlyrich Fork away. Still, she could not help but feel curious about the plainly-lettered signs, and decided to search the surrounding rooms for some clue.

Her gravest suspicion became reality. Every single thing had a label on it somewhere: plates, furniture, even the oil lamps on the walls. Lina eyed a glass full of toothpicks with a suspicious look, and decided she does not even want to know.

_What a loony bin! The sooner I can get out of here, the better!_

Seeing that her perfect trap has been perfectly wasted, the sorceress set off in a random direction towards the interior of the mansion.

There was no sign of the organized defense she encountered earlier; instead, she found the guards in complete disarray, many of them wandering through the building alone, allowing Lina to pick them off with ease.

_There's one big problem with this,_ she thought as she jumped over her latest victim's unconscious form and sprinted through the gaudily furnished 'Pleasantlyrich Salon Number Two'. _They were all huddled together upstairs in the beginning, so Nellie being there looked to be a good guess – now, though, all bets are off. The place's so big, I could go round and round and never find any--_

She stopped abruptly as she stepped out to another long corridor and spotted a familiar figure twenty feet ahead, blocking her way. His dark bangs cast a shadow over his eyes, making it hard to tell where he was exactly looking, but the sorceress did not have the slightest doubt that he had been aware of her presence for a while now.

"Xelloss," she called, more as an acknowledgement than a greeting, "I was wondering when you would finally show up."

"I hope my entrance measures up to your expectations then, Lina-san," the priest replied, not moving from where he stood.

Nearly tangible tension filled the room. Lina's expression shifted to a volatile mixture of incredulity and anger. "Don't tell me you're really on _their_ side," she said in a restrained voice.

The mazoku did not reply for several long moments, his form rigid and motionless like a statue.

Finally, he let out a reserved sigh. "No, I'm not," he stated with a pained smile. "What a waste that would be." He leisurely turned around, and began walking down the corridor. "Come with me, I will show you were Nellie-chan is being held at the moment."

The sorceress blinked in confusion. _Just like that?_

"You owe me an explanation, Xelloss," she declared with a serious look as she caught up with him. "I _know_ you're involved in this somehow. I don't want to waste time, so I'll play along with you for the time being, but after this is over we are going to have a little talk about what you've been doing around here."

The priest glanced in her direction, his expression a distant, estranged relative of regret. "Do we really have to?" he asked. "Couldn't we just say that it was a largely pointless spectacle which I should have seen from the very beginning, and which is better off without further discussion?"

Lina shot him a glare. "No."

"I thought as much." Xelloss nodded with resignation. Little more was said along the way.

* * *

"My lord, why did you order me to defend the headquarters, if you are now sabotaging my efforts?!" the lieutenant demanded from the armored figure, who still sat in his chair, showing little concern for his underling's outburst. "If I'm not there to direct them, our defense will fall apart! Why do I have to stay here?!"

"I can see that you doubt my strength, so I want to make sure you don't die by some accident before you can witness my triumph over the sorceress," the Baron of Evil said in an offhand manner. "Don't worry; I relieve you from your duties. The defense of the mansion was nothing more than a gesture towards historical accuracy to begin with."

"But that's… that's…" The mercenary leader was shaking from head to toe; the last, final battle raged between his sense of professionalism and his overflowing anger – it is needless to say which one won. "THAT IS THE MOST _STUPID_, _MORONIC_, **_INSANE_** THING I'VE EVER-- Did you just say that you've relieved me of my duties?"

"Yes. The only thing I want is that you remain here until everything is over." The armored figure rose from his seat. "I'm sure you will be begging to be returned to command afterwards."

The ex-lieutenant stared at his former employer. "A…A-All right," he replied, his face twisting into a manic grin. "I'll be _dying_ to see how you will fare against that sorceress, my Lord."

Apparently not noticing the scathing sarcasm in his voice, the Baron of Evil gave a satisfied nod, and walked a few steps towards the room's side wall. There knelt Nellie, with her left hand propped against the marble floor as she leaned over a sheet of paper, and drew unidentifiable black blobs on it with the piece of coal in her other hand. Both were given to her by the then-lieutenant, who hoped to silence her for a little while – as the man noted with some resignation, it was the only thing that day which really worked out as he had planned.

Noticing the baron's approach, the little girl retrieved her creation from the floor and held it up for him to see. "This is you!" she declared, pointing at the dark blob in the middle.

"Is that so?" The armored figure sounded intrigued. "For such a young child, you do show commendable taste in your choice of art topics. Is this a depiction of my glorious success as a villain?"

"No, this is you walking into the cage of two hungry lions." Nellie gestured towards another pair of blobs on the left side of the page.

An angry snort left the black helmet. "Foolish girl! Why would I do something like that?"

"Well…" She examined the drawing, as if trying the guess the answer to his question from it. "I think you say to them, 'I am the evilest guy on Earth! You two stupid lions can never ever get me!'"

The Baron of Evil, about to turn away a moment ago, now looked at her with renewed interest.

"And then you tell them," Nellie continued, "'Try all you want! I will show you how strong and evil I am!'"

"This is a fascinating picture after all," the armored figure spoke in a self-absorbed voice. "And what happens then?"

The little girl grinned. "Then they eat you!"

The tall double doors of the hall blew off their hinges, tumbling forward and crashing against the marble floor – revealing an angry sorceress and a troubled-looking priest who stood in the entryway.

"My lord, I think the lions have arrived," the ex-lieutenant noted with a snicker of amusement.

* * *

Filia's boots dug up numerous white pebbles, sending them flying as she dashed along the ballast road in the direction of the rising cloud of smoke. It had taken her many attempts from her pinched position, but in the end she managed to transform back to her human form, and once small, she had been able to climb out of the hole. She still lost precious time however, and the priestess hoped not to waste another second unnecessarily.

The flames had other ideas. As she got close to the burning circle of trees around the mansion, they burst forward from the withering branches and blocked her way with a column of orange fire. The face of the flame golem materialized among the tongues, and regarded her with a hostile expression.

"Did Lina-san make you? She gets more powerful every time we meet." Filia waved hesitantly to the magical construct. "Ehm, hello! I'm a friend of your creator, I'm sure she told you about me. Could you please let me through?"

The golem growled in response; two long tongues of living flame shot out towards the dragoness, barely missing her as she jumped back instinctively.

"Of course she forgot to mention me. _That_ never changes," Filia muttered, drew a sharp breath and charged into the flames.

* * *

Lina ran into the hall, her eyes darting across it, expecting a bunch of mercenaries to jump forward from every corner to defend their master who, according to Xelloss, held Nellie hostage in the room – an ideal place for an ambush.

None came.

Parts of the hall were lost in the murk from poor lighting (the chandelier above and half of the oil lamps on the walls were unlit), but as the sorceress' eyes adjusted to the dim light, she became sure that there were only three additional people present: the lieutenant, not far from them at the side; a man covered in a suit of black plate armor, standing near a huge ornate chair at the other end, and Nellie, kneeling on the floor next to him.

"Grandma Lina!" the little girl yelled, jumping to her feet. "I knew you would come!"

"Of course I came." The sorceress smiled. "Stay where you are, I'll get you out of here in a moment." She set her narrowing gaze on the armored figure. "So you're that Baron of Evil, right? Hate to break it to you, but your defense sucks. Where did your army run off to so suddenly?"

"It's his fault," the ex-lieutenant interjected gruffly.

"Yes, my apologies, it was mostly because of impatience on my part," the Baron of Evil replied in a conversational tone. "I lost interest in the game. But you are here at last, and I'm sure I can make it up to you very easily once we fight. Don't mind my former lieutenant there; I am your only opponent, sorceress."

"I'll keep an eye on the mercenary, just in case," Xelloss spoke from behind her. "You can go ahead without worries."

_Which also means that you want to stay out of this fight too. Figures._

"Fine by me," Lina said as walked across the hall. "Just a friendly warning though. Now that I know where Nellie is, I won't be holding back anymore."

"Hmpf, you are going to need more than empty threats if you wish to intimidate me," the armored figure boasted.

"Oh, okay." The sorceress gave a shrug, and pointed her thumb behind her back. "DOLPH STRASH."

The shockwave fueled by the power of the mazoku lord Deep Sea Dolphin blew the wall with the door frame behind her to tiny pieces. It did not stop with that, though: the spell tore through dozens of walls and rooms, utterly destroying everything within, until it crashed into the forest outside, where it finally dissipated. For a second, the pale ex-lieutenant could glimpse the burning trees through the gaping hole; then the floor above, suddenly losing support, collapsed along with part of the roof under its own weight, pushing a cloud of dense smoke into the hall. In just a few moments, half of the Pleasantlyrich Mansion was reduced to a giant pile of debris.

"Excellent… simply excellent!" the Baron of Evil exclaimed with excitement as the dust settled, not looking bothered by the destruction. "I couldn't have wished for a better opponent to help recreate the confrontation between the great Evil Overlord and Mina the Sorceress!"

"Is that what it's all about? Some kind of twisted villain-worship?" Lina snapped indignantly. "Do you even know who that 'Evil Overlord' really was originally? Filia told me about the story on our way here; that guy was just an over-aspiring minor noble who tried to kidnap her son to force her to do her bidding. But, you know, he didn't even get to it because we blew him and his sorry excuse for a stronghold sky high in a heartbeat! He was such an amateur, I already forgot about him!"

"N-No way…" the mercenary leader stuttered. "That means the baron was right and the wench really _is _the heroine of that story!"

"Not quite, but it truly is as close as it gets," Xelloss commented.

"Enough! Do not interrupt the verbal battle with my nemesis; just watch the events unfold like the sidekicks should!" the armored figure sounded slightly irritated, but when he spoke to Lina again the anger had vanished and was replaced by a note of whimsy. "I am not planning on copying my predecessor, sorceress. I want to surpass him, and not just him, but all fairy tale villains with one simple achievement: that I will succeed. For that to happen, of course, I needed someone like you. I had hoped that the kidnapping of an innocent child, along with the prospect of a hefty reward from her inheritance would draw a hero to my trap, and as fate would have it, I have indeed found the perfect opponent. With your death, I shall become the greatest villain the world has ever known."

_Talk about insane… and corny to boot._

"Well, that's really nice and all," the sorceress answered with an almost pitying smile, "but if I had a copper piece for every guy who told me something like that, I would be richer than a--"

She caught something speeding towards her from the corner of her eye. Without time for a spell, Lina tried to twist her body out of the way, but the pain striking her abdomen confirmed that she moved too late. A line of blood shone through her cut clothing; the wound was not deep, but it did really hurt.

"W-What happened?!" Nellie shouted. The attack took place with such lightning speed that the girl did not even notice the sorceress' injury.

_What on Earth was that?!_

In front of Lina, a bloodied short sword skidded across the hall, stopping at the baron's feet.

"I've learned from my peers, sorceress. I won't be making the same foolish mistakes," he stated confidently. "For example, here is Rule 1 of being a successful villain: never let your opponents finish their boastful speeches, strike them when they are vulnerable. And look, first blood is mine."

"That rule goes both ways!" Lina yelled in anger. She extended her hands, casting a spell as she charged at the armored figure. "FLARE ARROW!"

"Futile."

A small, unidentifiable object crossed paths with the swarm of fiery projectiles, making them explode way ahead of their target.

_Both things came from the wall. _The sorceress glanced to the side, eyeing the line of armors and the hanging weapons, all of them polished to perfection.

"There is nothing obviously magical about the room's decoration, Lina-san," Xelloss spoke, guessing her thoughts. "But that does not mean he cannot control them in some way."

"A useful sidekick." The Baron of Evil nodded. "Did you notice it then? But still, you're so far from the real truth…"

Whizzing sounds came at Lina's ears from opposite directions, signaling imminent danger.

"WINDY SHIELD!" A pair of knives clattered along the floor, deflected by the appearing circular wind barrier. "Why don't you share your ever-so-brilliant strategy then?"

"Hah, such a transparent proposal," the armored figure chuckled. "Rule 7: never explain your tactics or abilities to the enemy, as that is apt to expose your weak point. I think I will abide by that one, but to be sporting I'll give you a hint: that shield of yours will not protect you for long."

The sorceress tumbled forward. She hadn't lost her balance; the marble slabs below her had thrust violently upwards and literally threw her off. She managed to regain her equilibrium, but only for a moment. Regardless of where she stepped, the floor protested against her presence, while weapons of various kinds rained down on her from all directions, putting her protection magic under considerable pressure. With a frustrated sneer, Lina chanted a second spell and levitated off the ground. Glancing down, she saw one of the slabs rise from the floor and speed through the air towards her. She unwittingly noticed an inscription on the side of the cuboid, reading 'Pleasantlyrich Floor B124'.

"BOMB SPRID!" A ball of flame, slightly smaller than a Fireball, shot from the sorceress' outstretched hand. However, while casting a third spell in addition to Levitation and Windy Shield was not impossible with her experience, it came with the cost of precision: the projectile narrowly missed the slab, only barely scorching its side where the inscription was. The heavy marble rock immediately lost momentum though, and crashed down to the floor.

_Perhaps there is a method to this madness…_

The onslaught of weapons stopped; the baron's gloved hands curled into a fist, betraying anger.

"I'm getting closer to the truth, huh?" The sorceress quipped, closing in on the armored figure through the air. "These signs are actually exotic magical seals, which let you control everything around here. I've heard about spells like this, but never seen it on such a large scale."

"You may be right, but this knowledge alone won't help you," the Baron of Evil replied defiantly. "As you said, the mansion itself is my weapon; every single brick or piece of furniture responds to my will. There is no way you can handle them all!"

"I don't need to handle them all." The sorceress spread her arms. Both walls were engulfed by a red mist which appeared from thin air; it dissipated after two seconds or so, but left writing on the walls with huge scarlet letters in its wake.

The ex-lieutenant read the new inscription with baffled look. "'YOU LOSE'… What is that supposed to mean?"

"There is a reason why such magic isn't widely used. The seal is very fragile and sensitive to any kind of contamination," Xelloss explained. "The huge stain Lina-san created with that simple spell rendered all of the weapons still hanging on the walls unusable. It's a commendable strategy, actually."

"I told you to be quiet, sidekick!" the armored figure snapped. "Our glorious battle needs no such interruptions!"

"Why don't we continue then? After all, you still have all the slabs on the floor left." Steadily levitating closer while the baron had been focused on the mazoku, Lina had brought herself only a few steps away from her opponent. "Of course, you could have used them from the beginning – my shield surely couldn't take all of them at once. But they are too heavy for that, aren't they? I think the most you can manage is a single slab or two at once."

"Stop where you are, sorceress." Displaying surprising agility for someone wearing plate armor, the Baron of Evil leapt back, landing right next to Nellie. "It is time to employ Rule 62: hostages are a perfect tool to keep any hero at bay!" The little girl peevishly stuck out her tongue, somewhat ruining his dramatic exclamation. "You might have been able to inconvenience me, but you have hardly launched an effective attack on me yet, despite saying that you won't hold back. I think you are still worried about her safety – and for good reason, especially now. I wouldn't take another step if I were you."

Lina shot a murderous look at him, but descended to the ground. "Cut the trash talk, you know this isn't going to get you anywhere! Or did you give up on defeating me already, and now you just want to buy time?!"

"I did not say anything about giving up," the armored figure replied, still sounding ever so confident. Unbeknownst to all others present, at the opposite end of the hall, a musket lying next to the pile of fallen armor pieces began to slowly rise from the floor. "All I needed was a second of your time."

The gun's barrel turned towards the sorceress, aiming precisely at the wind barrier's center, where the chance of deflection was minimal. The trigger inched backwards--

"Daaah!" The metal pile stirred, and a man rose from it, using all the strength he could muster to push the heavy steel plates off him. "I'm still alive! My name is Berton Hughelstein, and I am not a faceless minion, damn it!"

Everyone turned towards the sound; Lina instantly noticed the musket hovering in the air and ducked to the floor. The shot went wide, and a second later the weapon was obliterated by a rising pillar of flame.

"No! This can't be happening!" the Baron of Evil screamed. "You are just a simple guard! Your name is completely superfluous to this story! How could someone like you interfere with my carefully laid plans?!"

"Oh, so that's why Uncle Xelloss said that this isn't a fairy tale," Nellie commented with wide-eyed innocence. The armored figure snapped his head back and was about to yell something at her in a affronted manner, when a gust of wind picked him up and sent him flying across the hall.

"Either way," the sorceress ran to the girl, making sure to always stay between her and the baron, "as I wrote before, you lose."

An angry growl could be heard coming from the helmet, which was quickly replaced by half-mad laughter. "Not yet! I've got at least one more card to play – and that, you are going to regret dearly!"

Lina heard the noise of steel grazing the marble floor. She pushed Nellie down to the ground, trying to shield her from the incoming threat. A silver blur zipped through her field of vision, not even touching her wind barrier; the sorceress had to realize that they were not the intended target.

The next thing she heard was the sickening sound of metal piercing flesh.

"Oh my…" The priest gazed surprised at the dagger sticking out of his chest, the same one which was used against Lina minutes ago, and at the rapidly growing red stain around it, soaking through his robes.

"Uncle Xelloss!!" Nellie screamed. She escaped the sorceress' grasp and ran towards the mazoku.

The Baron of Evil broke out in laughter yet again. "Yes, scream! Go on, rush to your friend's aid even though it is already too late! Rule 163 never fails: a dying comrade always takes priority over everything, ahahaha-- What?!" He stared at the unmoving sorceress. "Why aren't you doing anything?!"

"I am," she replied calmly. "FLARE LANCE!"

The spell exploded in the baron's face, propelling him to the ground.

"It seems this just isn't your day today." She turned her head towards Xelloss; her opponent followed her gaze, gasping as he saw the priest unconcernedly pull out the knife from his chest, as if he was just flipping a fallen leaf off his shoulder.

"He repeatedly tells me not to get involved, only to do this. I am thoroughly disappointed," the mazoku said, shaking his head. His wound, along with the patch of red disappeared instantly after he removed the blade; in one moment the blood was glistening, in the next his clothes looked as good as new.

"Uncle Xelloss, are you okay?!" Nellie was tugging at his cloak.

"It is going to be a sad, sad day when I will be hurt by something like this." Xelloss flung the dagger aside apathetically. "You would be better off saving your concern for someone who actually i--" He interrupted his sentence in mid-word, as a wave of fear and sadness hit him from point blank range.

The girl was crying. Large drops of tears poured from her eyes and streamed down her face, as she clung to his cloak with a desperate grip. "I was scared that you got hurt! This… this isn't fun anymore!!" she bawled.

The mazoku stood there, looking completely lost about what to do, while Nellie hugged his leg and started using his trousers as a handkerchief. Then ever so slowly, a genuine, serene smile spread across Xelloss' face. "There is no longer any doubt," he asserted in a low voice.

_Geez, do I really need to hire an interpreter to understand what he is talking about today?!_

The girl's crying suddenly stopped. Nellie turned away from the priest and looked at the Baron of Evil, her expression no longer one of concern, but of fury.

"I'll get you for hurting Uncle Xelloss you… you buckethead!" she cried out, and charged at the prone man with her head bent down.

"Nellie stop, don't go near him!" The sorceress' warning was in vain. Just as the baron tried to get to his feet, the girl pounced on him, and knocked him back to the ground.

"Take this! And that! And that too!" she yelled, pounding on his breastplate with her tiny fists.

"Get your filthy hands off my family's treasured armor!" the Baron of Evil growled. He grabbed Nellie by her neck and lifted her into the air. "I'll show you all what happens to those who anger me!" He cocked his other arm back, ready to strike the helpless child. The girl tried biting his hand, but the steel gloves left little hope for such an attack.

"Let go of her!" Aiming as carefully as she could, Lina sent a single Flare Arrow towards the baron's arm – but just before it would have hit, a marble slab rose from the floor and absorbed the brunt of the spell.

The Baron of Evil glanced at the sorceress, and spoke in a chilling, triumphant voice: "Rule 125. I'll tell you shortly what that means." He then swung his gloved fist forward. Lina chanted another spell as quickly as she could, but she was not sure she would make it in time…

The baron's fist stopped an inch from Nellie's face, a soft-gloved hand with an iron grip immobilizing his wrist.

"Surely, it reads 'do not quote the rules out loud, as it is incredibly pointless', am I right?" Xelloss said with a mocking smile. Lina let out a relieved breath.

"Who do you think you are, sidekick?!" the armored figure sneered, trying to pull his arm free; but no matter how he struggled, the mazoku's grip remained firm.

"Sorry, but I can't very well let someone like you cause problems for Lina-san… or for those of her flesh and blood." the priest effortlessly removed the steel fingers from around the girl's neck, and lowered her to the ground with his free hand, while his staff remained fixed in the air in the same position he left it a moment ago.

"Kick his butt, Uncle Xelloss!" Nellie cheered on, and then shot an angry glare at the baron. "He's a very strong 'mozaku' who ruined lots of sand castles, so you better watch out!"

"That aside," Xelloss continued quickly, looking very uncomfortable for a moment, "I don't truly understand what you are trying to do. Being a villain for its own sake is meaningless; you only get yourself at odds with others and have little to gain from it."

"Why should I care about that?"The armored figure spat defiantly. "I will simply crush anyone who opposes me!"

The priest smiled. "Actually, you can easily make enemies from people who you should not have crossed." He relaxed his grip and grasped his staff. "Allow me to demonstrate."

With inhuman speed, Xelloss struck the baron; his staff fractured the armor plates like they were made of paper. The lower body of his opponent remained standing – the torso fell to the ground with a metallic clang.

"Oh, and I inform you that I do not appreciate being called a sidekick."

"It's… It's empty?!" the ex-lieutenant stuttered, while the guard behind him let out a gasp. From where they were standing, they could see without a doubt: the pitch-black suit of armor was entirely hollow.

"Why do you think he didn't ever show his face? This puppet was controlled from some place nearby just like everything else in this room," Lina said as she kicked the dark breastplate in annoyance. To her shock, the steel arm reached out and grabbed her foot.

_It's still working?!_

"You will pay for this!" The Baron of Evil's helmet bellowed. "I'll take you all with me if I must!"

Something above them cracked; as the sorceress glanced up, she saw some of the columns supporting the ceiling leaning to the side, destabilizing the entire structure.

"Gaah, that moron is going to kill everyone!" the ex-lieutenant yelled in panic.

"I-It's not fair; I just survived an avalanche of armor parts!" The other mercenary tried escaping through the hall's main entrance, only to find it blocked entirely by debris. "Oh no, we're doomed! Someone heelp!"

Lina rolled her eyes. "Right, and since we're now doomed and everything, could you two shut up?" She glanced warily at the priest. "Xel, will you give me a hand?"

The mazoku grinned. "Why ever not?" He tore the baron's hand off her foot, grabbed on to the two halves of the armor and flung the heavy pieces of steel up towards the crumbling ceiling. "He is all yours, Lina-san!"

"Alright! Nellie, stay close!" The sorceress raised her arms above her head. "_Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows…_"

The last few unscathed weapons darted through the air towards her to interrupt the incantation, but Xelloss parried them harmlessly away one by one.

"_…buried in the stream of time. In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness! Let the--"_

"Uhm, Lina-san, he's not going to stay in the air for so long," the priest interjected.

"Oh well, so much for the dramatic finale! DRAGON SLAVE!"

The ruby beam of vibrant energy blew the roof apart and even grinded a big portion of the room's walls to dust, disintegrating the Baron of Evil's armor completely in the process. The force of the blinding explosion sent bits of the mansion flying all over the estate, but the remains of the hall stood safe, the sun's rays flooding the once half-dark room with bright light.

"Suupeeer…!" Nellie spoke in apparent ecstasy from the spectacular fireworks. "We won!"

"Not yet, we still have to find and eliminate the source of the control magic. It should not be difficult to locate it." Xelloss looked around thoughtfully, and then pointed towards the left side of the remaining walls. "Ah, there it is. Nellie-chan, please take my hand for a bit."

"What are we going to do, Grandma Lina?" the girl asked the sorceress, seeing that she held on to the priest's shoulder as well.

Before she could answer, the trio instantaneously vanished from the ruins of the hall. The ex-lieutenant stared at the spot they have been standing for a while, before letting out a jubilant yell.

"Yes! Finally, I'm free! The baron kicked the bucket and even that accursed sorceress run off! I'll clear out of here and no one will stand in my way!" He began to run, not noticing until the last moment that actually someone _was_ standing in his way in a very solid, impenetrable manner.

"Going somewhere, you child-napper?!" the impassable obstruction demanded.

The mercenary leader just managed to notice a giant black mace heading towards his head before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Lina, Xelloss and Nellie re-appeared in front of an average wooden door in another long corridor somewhere in the middle of the still standing part of the mansion.

"I feel dizzy…" The little girl wobbled about, holding her head in her hands.

"Is this it, Xel?" Lina regarded the door suspiciously.

"Yes, I believe so," the priest answered. "Although it looks unremarkable, there are some protective spells around the room, so it would be wise to use some caution."

"Well said!" the Baron of Evil's voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Don't you dare coming inside, or you will face the consequences!"

The sorceress scowled. "That's an obvious come-on, if there ever was one," she muttered.

"Did you hear that?" Nellie asked unsurely.

"The baron? Of course we heard him, sweetheart, what do you mean?" Lina blinked.

"No, not him, someone else." The girl put her ear to the door. "Someone else spoke just before he did!"

"Why should we believe such empty threats?" Xelloss shouted in an attempt to prompt the baron to reply. The sorceress leaned closer to the door as well, and she could indeed make out another, younger voice, speaking a second before their enemy's deep baritone.

"You can't know for sure of course…" it said.

"Naturally, it is impossible for you to know for certain…" the baron's voice followed.

"…but you can't take the risk 'cause I might be way ahead of you!"

"…but are truly willing to walk into a trap that I may have laid out well in advance?"

Lina's eyes slowly widened in disbelief; then she kicked the door in with all the power she had.

The room was clean and well-kept, just like all the others. A medium sized bed and many shelves lined the walls; some of them were filled with books, while others were home to the largest tin soldier army the sorceress had ever seen, lined up carefully in complex formations. A dark-haired boy, around twelve years old and dressed in the expensive clothes of nobility, sat on the floor, holding a black box in his hands with a small metal pipe on top. He scurried to the corner as he saw them enter the room, frantically shouting into the pipe.

"Are you stupid?! I told you to stay out!"

"What is the meaning of this?! Haven't I told you not to come in?!" the baron's voice came out of the box.

"Well, this certainly is an unexpected turn of events," the mazoku priest said, scratching his head. His dumbfounded expression evoked a giggle from Nellie.

Lina said nothing; instead, she walked towards the boy with quick, indignant steps.

"I'm n-not done yet, you know!" he stammered. "I have a l-lot more backup plans and everything! I'm…" The sorceress leant down and stared into his face, her eyes flashing with anger. "…I'm… I'm scared."

"You better be," Lina muttered dangerously. "Xel, what was our policy about annoying brats like him again?"

"I don't quite remember, Lina-san," the mazoku replied, looking to be deep in thought. "Although I do know an exquisite recipe for bouillon broth. The meat and bones are just what we need."

"Bouillon, hm? Sounds tasty," the sorceress regarded the trembling boy on the ground with a hungry look.

"Y-You can't do that!" he protested. "You're the goodie-two-shoes, not the villain!"

"Yeah, you're right. We should just go by the book." Lina nodded, reaching for a bigger tome on one of the shelves.

_'Filia Ul Copt – The Ultimate Edition'. Of course, what else?_

"Let's start with the most topical one." She opened the book around the middle. "The Evil Overlord: Blown to pieces along with his castle." The boy gulped. "Nah, that's boring. Here's a better one: The wretched witch, cut into itty-bitty pieces. That's not half-bad, now is it?"

"I… I want my mommy…"

"Still not good enough? Don't worry, this book is full of ideas!" The sorceress flashed a wicked grin.

"Lina-san, what's going on here? Where's the Baron of Evil?" She heard a voice from behind.

"Filia's here!" Nellie chirped.

_Oh shoot, I was just getting started._

"The baron?" Lina sighed; she snatched the box from the boy's lap and threw it behind her back towards the priest. Xelloss made a barely visible movement with his staff, and the contraption burst apart, sending a shower of broken focus gems and engraved stone fragments to the floor. "He's dead." She turned to the dragoness, who looked at her quizzically from the doorway. "Here's a fan of yours who you might want to have a word with, though. Xelloss, Nellie, we're leaving."

"Okay!" the little girl followed the sorceress and the mazoku out of the room, leaving an even more confused-looking Filia alone with the dark haired boy.

"Ehm… I am Filia Ul Copt. Who are you?" she asked unsurely. The boy jumped to his feet in surprise.

"Michael Pleasantlyrich, ma'am," he replied hastily with a respectful bow. "I'm a supervillain. Or I was… or something."

"_You're_ the villain? Why would you want to be something like that?" the priestess spoke, bewildered.

"Because they are cool! Everyone fears them, and they get to do crazy stuff!" the young Pleasantlyrich said defensively. "Tell me, Filia-sama, what did I do wrong? I tried to be a better villain than the ones in your stories, but I still messed up. Why? Why can't the bad guys win for a change?"

"Sometimes they do." The dragoness stepped closer, and spoke in a solemn voice. "But you know, Michael-san, when that happens, everyone suffers, even the bad guys themselves. They might become powerful, but they will be all alone, with only the hatred and fear of others as company. Do you really want to become something like that?"

"No… N-Not really," the boy muttered.

"See? I knew you weren't a true villain, Michael-san!" the priestess beamed. "Now throw aside your old ways, tell everyone that you're sorry, and you'll see that everything will turn out alright!"

"R-Right," the young noble glanced out of the room, where the smoke rising from the forest could still be seen through the corridor windows, "but the sorceress destroyed most of the mansion, broke the control box, and I kind of spent all of my family's savings on hiring those mercenaries. What do you think I should tell mom and dad when they get home from the sorcery conference?"

Despite her previous high spirits, Filia suddenly found herself without anything encouraging to say.

* * *

An ominous shadow loomed over the remains of the Pleasantlyrich Mansion. A gigantic, wicked, blue-black dragon descended from the sky, and let out a roar that could be heard from many miles away.

"Come out, evildoers!" the beast proclaimed. "I will show you the terrifying might of an ancient dragon!"

"Uh, Val, the fight's already over. There's no need to show off," someone said from the ground. Making a very un-terrifyingly sour face, the dragon turned its head towards the voice.

"Lina? Aw, you won already?" it whimpered. "Milgazia-sama, I told you we should have come here sooner, we missed all the action!"

"We were going against Filia's request by coming here in the first place." The golden dragon elder stepped forward from the smoking remains of the trees. "Now change back; we should not stay in this form within human lands unnecessarily."

The great ancient dragon sadly hung his head. "It's just not fair!" His form was enveloped by cold white light, and quickly started to shrink.

"Wow, he was really huge!" Nellie marveled.

"The ancients are the biggest and most powerful of the ryuzoku." Xelloss gestured towards Val, who once again seemed little more than a child, and was busy looking as disappointed as possible. "He's already outgrowing his foster mother, even though he is still very young by the standards of his race."

"Do you have to keep reminding me?!" The boy crossed his arms angrily.

Meanwhile, the sorceress looked concernedly around the rubble.

"Milgazia, didn't you see a few ragtag mercenaries running around here?" she asked. "We were only busy for a few minutes, but it looks like most of them managed to get away after my fire spell wore off."

The dragon looked at her confusedly. "You don't know where they are? I thought the two dozen bound men sitting next to the road leading here were your doing."

"Hey, Filia got them? She's really a genius!" Lina began walking in the indicated direction, rubbing her hands together with an unnerving look on her face. "I'd love to share a few words with those gentlemen, ehehehe."

"I want to take them to the city guards in one piece, Lina-san, so leave them alone." Filia appeared in front of her in a burst of golden light. "Didn't you have enough fun for today?"

"Fun?! What do you mean by 'fun'?!" The sorceress shook her fists in front of her exasperatedly. "I'm forced to go on a rescue mission, have to hold back my power the entire friggin' time, and in the end it turns out that the evil mastermind was just a kid who read one fairy tale too many! I deserve to blow off some steam, damn it!"

"Well, do it elsewhere then!" the priestess snapped back, her firm tone taking even Lina by surprise.

_In one second, she's all terrified, and then she's ordering me around in the next! I'll never understand Filia, seriously…_

"If I may bring up a more pressing topic, what about Xelloss?" Milgazia stepped closer to the two women, but kept his eyes on the priest. "I cannot know what exactly happened, but I can hardly believe he had no role in this scheme."

"There's more to that than just suspicion," the dragoness added, her expression darkening. "Lina-san, Xelloss was the beaver who attacked us! He told me himself that he wanted to slow us down because of some plan of his; if it weren't for him, I would have gotten to you much sooner!"

"His plan, huh…? Maybe I have a hunch about what that was." The sorceress stared at the mazoku, who was talking with Nellie and Val a little farther away.

"Can we play a game, Uncle Xelloss?"

"Is it impossible for you to get tired, even after all this?" The priest raised an eyebrow. Lina noticed that the tension between him and the girl had completely disappeared; there was no longer anything forced or strained in Xelloss' smile as he looked at her. "What kind of game do you have in mind?"

"Let's play--" Nellie carefully edged closer, and then quickly patted the mazoku's leg. "--tag! You're it!" She sprinted towards the forest as quickly as she could. "Run Val, or he'll catch you!"

"Didn't I tell you before?!" the boy shouted after her. "I'm one hundred years old! I'm not playing these stupid games!"

"Well, as for me, I am well over one thousand, so I guess I won the age game." Xelloss shrugged. "And as for you, young Val of the ancient dragons," he bonked him on the head with his staff, "you are _it_!"

"H-Hey! Come back here, you raw garbage mazoku!" Val bellowed as he ran after him. The sorceress watched as the trio chased each other among the faintly smoking trees, Nellie giggling uncontrollably, Xelloss sticking his tongue out at the raging young dragon as he levitated out of his reach, and for a fleeting moment, she could almost forget that her ever-smiling companion belonged to the race bent on the world's annihilation.

_I can't believe this. _She tiredly closed her eyes._ What am I supposed to do with that guy?_

The priest had no idea what was coming for him; he was too busy gliding through the air, always staying just out of arm's length from his pursuers. Lina thus managed to jump squarely on his back, pushed him to the ground, and began bending his limbs in several uncomfortable directions.

"Hello there, Lina-san…" the mazoku groaned. "May I ask what brought you to our humble game of tag?"

"You know very well what!" the sorceress said with a sadistic grin. "Nellie, I hereby change the game rules to freestyle wrestling!"

"Dogpile!" the little girl screamed, jumping on Xelloss' head.

"Lina-sama, maybe I can help you with that," Val said in an uncharacteristically polite manner, adding an evil laugh as he joined the torture, or more precisely the game session.

Milgazia and Filia shared a concerned look. "Lina isn't taking this as seriously as she should." The older dragon shook his head.

"When did she ever?" the priestess murmured. She then retrieved her mace and, with a tiny smile on her face, went to offer it to the sorceress as a 'freestyle wrestling accessory'. Her idea was met with great success.

* * *

Officius opened his eyes.

He no longer felt tired, even though he could not tell how long his rest lasted, not to mention that he was sleeping on—rocks?

He sat up, trying to comprehend his surroundings. He was in the middle of a desolate valley, apparently somewhere in a rocky desert; the sun's rays rained down fiercely on him, already causing a minor sunstroke while he slept. There was no sign of life as far as he could see, except for one: the woman in fiery armor standing on a bigger lump of stone a few steps away. She was looking straight at him; Officius got the feeling that she had being doing that ever since they had arrived here, whenever that had happened.

"Flarelord… Vrabazard… sama?" the priest spoke unsurely, while the woman's shocking last words to him echoed in his ears.

"Were you expecting something different?" she asked in an amused voice, as if she read his mind. "My siblings have their own preferences about when and how to appear to mortals. I do this only very rarely – but when I do, I feel no need to intimidate anyone with a roaring dragon or pillars made of cutting wind; this body is sufficient to do what I wish to."

"I… understand," Officius croaked. Despite her words, the being in front of him made no effort to hide the insane amount of power that simply oozed from her form – incomprehensible, but at the same time almost tangible. It felt as if her mere presence kept the desert around them in existence, and without it would have crumbled to dust, or even smaller than dust, to nothingness.

"You are wondering why you're here." This time the God of Flames did not bother to hide the truth in a question.

"Y-Yes I am," the priest managed. He wanted to punch himself for his lack of a more respectful tone, but the words left his mouth without his consent.

"I've been watching you, Officius Petrakos," the shinzoku spoke, her voice sonorous like that of a judge, "I've seen the selfless and admirable deeds you performed in my service over the years; many of your kin call you a saint, and perhaps you would not be undeserving of the title. However," her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, "you should know that this has little to do with the present situation or with the reason I chose you. This is not a special boon for your efforts; keep that in mind as you listen to my offer."

"I n-never… I never expected special treatment in return for my work, Vrabazard-sama." Officius was relieved to discover that her words made him find his voice. "When I was younger, I… I chose to dedicate my life to your service because the priests of Flarelord recognized the meaning and value of duty. I have merely done… what was expected of me."

"And that shows your wisdom," the woman nodded in acknowledgement, "but what I ask of you now is beyond the line of duty, and as such, you are free to refuse it; the choice is yours." She gestured around them. "This place, my priest, will soon become the meeting ground for all the forces of creation. My siblings, Airlord Valwin and Earthlord Rangort will come here to make a decision that will alter the fate of the world," she turned away from the desert to look at him once more, "and in this endeavor, I would require your assistance."

"But Vrabazard-sama… what kind of assistance can I possibly give?" Officius asked, wide-eyed. To be visited by his god was one thing, but the very same god asking him to help in something which involved all the others gods was simply beyond his ability to believe or comprehend. "If I can do anything, I will, but--"

"Wait." The Flarelord's order was quiet, but it silenced the priest immediately. "Do not give promises you know nothing about. There is one restriction you must be aware of: Should you agree to be present at this meeting," her coal black eyes pierced his, "you will not be allowed to leave alive."

The priest stared at the God of Flames, his eyes filled with confusion, and for the first time, anxiety as well.

"I… I don't understand," he finally managed to say.

"By the nature of the decisions which will take place, you will have to die," the shinzoku explained, her voice devoid of emotion. "I am aware of your illness; while the causes are not entirely known to me, you likely have less than a month left to live, and certain circumstances will probably make that even shorter." She jumped down from the rock, and took a step towards him. "What I am asking of you is to give up this month in exchange for helping me convince my siblings about a threat that could mean the very end of the world. Without you, my chances would likely be far worse. Still, if you decline, I will send you back to your temple without a word. Your faithful are already searching high and wide for you." She slowly closed her eyes. "Now you know the consequences of your choice. I am aware of the difficulty, so you may take your time deciding, if you wish."

A gentle breeze flew through the valley. Perhaps less than a minute of silence passed between them, before Officius let out a soft chuckle. Flarelord Vrabazard opened her eyes once again to look questioningly at him.

"Vrabazard-sama, if the world is truly in danger, then this isn't much of a choice," the priest spoke in a gentle voice. "It would be an honor to assist you, whatever the consequences may be."

The god smiled.

"You have my thanks, Officius Petrakos. May you hold this commendable outlook after you discover the truth about the nature of the threat, as well."

* * *

The road leading through the forest was winding and looked generally neglected, with treacherous stones sticking out of the dirt at every step to make the unwary traveler fall. Lina thus kept her eyes mostly on the ground to avoid such a fate as the gentle slope led over a smaller hill, but could not forgo an amused glance or two over her back every now and then.

"Let's see," Xelloss looked around, sizing up the scenery as if he was searching for something special, "I spy with my little eye, something… glistening with white."

"White??" Nellie turned her head left and right from her perch on the priest's shoulders. "There's no sparkly stuff here, Uncle Xelloss."

"Ah, but there is." The mazoku smiled triumphantly. "I was referring to the snowy mountain peaks in the distance."

"You can't see those from here, the trees are too high!" the girl protested. "You really cheated this time!"

"Just because you can't see them does not mean that I can't," Xelloss explained patiently. "I have 'eyes' in places you don't know. It is only natural that I make use of them if I intend to win the game. Your turn, Nellie-chan."

"Oookay." The girl closed her eyes and knitted her brows in thought. "I spy with my little eye, something… something black and white!"

The priest chuckled as he regarded the monochromatic clothes of the sorceress walking in front of them. "Honestly, you are not making my job all that hard--"

"Wait, now it's pink!"

"It _became_ pink?" It was the mazoku's turn to look all around the forest scenery with bewilderment. "My, what can possibly change to pink from--"

"Now it's green! And now it's red! And yellow!"

"All right Nellie-chan, I give up." Xelloss held up his hands. "What did you see exactly, provided that you are not making this up?"

"Well, I see all these colors dance before my eyes when I close them." The little girl grinned.

The mazoku nodded thoughtfully. "I must admit, you are getting quite good at this."

"This is not the point of the game at all, you know," Lina muttered, although she couldn't suppress a snicker herself. "Hey look, we can see the village from here!"

Reaching the top of the hill, the landscape of the plains beneath opened to them. The forest came to an abrupt end a little farther below, and tiny thatched roofs signaled the perimeter of the settlement of Karthon behind the last few trees.

"There's an old lady coming up the hill right ahead," the sorceress managed between ragged breaths as she ran down the slope, ignoring the road's obstacles. "We'll ask her for some directions within the town."

"That lady…" Nellie's mouth hung open for a moment. "Uncle Xelloss, put me down, put me down, quickly!"

"What is it, sweetheart?" Lina halted to turn back, but the just girl sped by, not stopping until she jumped into the surprised woman's arms.

"Grandma!" she shouted.

"Nellie, my goodness, where have you been?" the old lady, despite her hunched back and the walking stick in her hand, lifted the girl easily into the air, her wrinkled face lighting up with joy. "Your mother wrote that you'll be arriving with the next post, and that should have been here days ago!"

"There were some small complications along the way. Sorry for coming late," the sorceress said with a smile as she caught up to them.

"Grandma, I found my other grandma on the way here!" Nellie pointed at the newcomers. "She's Lina! And this is Uncle Xelloss! …What is it granny, is something wrong?" she asked the woman with a confused look, seeing her shocked expression.

"Grandmother, is that you?" the old lady whispered. In response, Lina's face became as much if not even more lined with shock.

_No way… NO WAY…!_

"A-A-Amber?" she stammered.

"I guess that is a little too much to take in all at once," Xelloss commented cheerfully.

"What the heck are you smiling about?!" The sorceress yelled into his face. "Act like you're at least a tiny bit surprised, for crying out loud!!"

"Nellie, that woman is not your grandmother," the lady told the little girl in a shaky voice.

"She isn't?"

"No, actually, she is _my_ grandmother and your _great-great_ grandmother, the famous Lina Inverse!"

"So then you're r-really… my youngest grandkid, Amber Gabriev?" Lina stared at her newly revealed descendants with a blank look.

"That I was, until I got married." The woman smiled. "This little troublemaker here is also my youngest granddaughter, not to mention my biggest headache latterly. Got herself mixed up in this inheritance business from her late father's side of the family; I had to pound the heads of those greedy guild members almost daily with my staff to have them wait for her to get here."

"Grandma, this is boring!" Nellie pouted. "Let me go to Uncle Xelloss while you talk about the confusing stuff!"

"Fine, go ahead." The old lady nodded to the mazoku. "I've heard much about you from family tales, Beast Priest. Not sure I ever wanted to meet you though, to be honest."

"I appreciate your sincerity, Amber-san." Xelloss bowed politely.

"Why don't you spend the night with us, grandmother?" The aged sorceress turned eagerly back to Lina. "We haven't spoken to each other since I was a silly teenager, and we heard so little news about you that weren't among the usual rumors… and even those were all sad. My other two grandchildren and the rest of my family here would love to meet you!"

"It… It'd be great to do that Amber, but…" Lina had no idea why she was about to decline the offer - or maybe she understood, but did not want to admit it. Instead, she tried looking for a convenient excuse. "…I'm really not sure if Xel would-- huh?" She turned to where the priest was supposed to be, but found no one but Nellie grinning at her from ear to ear.

"Uncle Xelloss says he'll meet you here tomorrow morning, Great-Great Grandma Lina!" she laughed at the sorceress' new, overly long title.

"Well, I guess there isn't much to do then." Lina smiled faintly.

She followed her granddaughter and great-great granddaughter into the village – and spent one of her best evening since years there, surrounded by friends and family; people she barely knew, but who seemed all too familiar to her nonetheless. (Food was available in endless amounts, of course.)

The sun had already risen well above the horizon when the sorceress arrived back to the top of the hill. Xelloss stood there, waiting, as he promised.

"Sorry for being late, but they wouldn't let me go without a proper breakfast," Lina greeted the priest cheerfully.

"And who you would be to flout with tradition, right?" the mazoku replied in an amused voice.

They walked in silence for quite a while. Only as the next town came into view from the road did the sorceress speak up, sounding flustered.

"Okay, out with it already."

"Out with what?" the priest asked quizzically.

"Come on Xel," Lina let out an impatient sigh, "I know you want to brag about it, and you know I'm dying to find out the reason. So how about we skip the pleasantries just this once and cut to the chase: how did you find out that Nellie and I were related? Now that I think about it, you already said something similar when you saved her from the Baron of Evil. How could you know?"

Xelloss put a hand behind his head in his usual, nervous gesture. "'Bragging' would not be the word I'd use; it is somewhat embarrassing, really." He slowed his pace and finally stopped, facing the sorceress. "You see, Lina-san, it first struck me back at the masquerade contest in Atlas City, and I was convinced fully during the confrontation at the mansion – the reason I was so uncomfortable around Nelie-chan, what agitated me about her unshakable optimism and cheer was that… in so many ways, she is just like you." He shrugged jokingly, like he did not want to take responsibility for what he was saying. "The aggravating stubbornness to always believe in the best possible outcome, her infuriating refusal to give in to fear except when those close to her were in peril – it's almost funny that I did not notice it from the start." He turned away, and started walking along the road again. "Especially since those are the very same qualities that let you become who you are now."

Lina stared at the mazoku's back for a while, not really knowing what to say. Then she noticed that she was already falling way behind, so she gave up on it with a shrug and quickly caught up to him. Walking contentedly in the morning sun, the two disappeared along the winding road, and lived happily ever--

"Wait a minute." The sorceress froze. "Did you just basically tell me that I'm annoying??"

"Well, hmm… it's a secret?"

"Xelloss!"

"Yes, Lina-san, I guess I did." the priest admitted. "I could say that you annoy us mazoku more than the rest of humanity combined. Of course, we are only talking about humans, so it doesn't concern us _that_ much, but it is still an undeniable achievement."

"Achievement??! I'll show you achievement!!"

As several explosions reworked the surrounding landscape, it became apparent that the happy ending was still well in the distance for the two.

* * *

The storm raged over the desert with terrifying intensity. The frequent arcs of lightning which ran through the sky were the only fleeting sources of light; the swirling, pitch black clouds blocked out the sun completely and made the day into night. A hundred feet from where Officius tried to make his stand against the elements, the dark mist of the clouds reached down to the ground, revolving violently and creating a house-sized tornado funnel. The rain poured into the priest's face like a river; the barren land must not have seen this much water for at least a thousand years.

Officius did not care about the wind or the rain; every last bit of his attention was focused on the thundering voices which escaped the funnel cloud, sounding clearly over the clamor – and it was not the horrific weather, but the things he heard that made his knees buckle.

"I can see that you do not agree with me," he heard the Flarelord's voice; it was more deep and alien than before, but still clearly recognizable.

"You have your way of understating the truth, Vrabazard," a male voice answered, sounding agitated. "This is the betrayal of everything we exist for!"

"You also have your way of overstating the truth, Rangort," the God of Flames retorted angrily. "This is actually the _only way_ we can continue to fulfill the role that Ceiphied-sama had left for us."

"By forming an alliance with the mazoku?! By using that alliance to commit the atrocity you proposed?! This is insanity!" The ground shook in response to Earthlord Rangort's furious words.

A third voice interrupted their argument; its calm tone pacified even the rage of the storm a little – Officius knew it belonged to the God of Wind, Airlord Valwin. "I listened carefully to what you said, and I also have my doubts. I can understand that the prophecy you speak of _will_ endanger the world's existence in some form, but your visions were never detailed enough to make such a decision based on them alone. You used to agree with this yourself; why do you see it differently now?"

"You speak truly," Flarelord Vrabazard said with newly found tranquility. "I have little control over the fragments I glimpse from the future: They are incomplete, ambiguous and oftentimes little more than a cryptic message, but that is _exactly _the reason I am so concerned, as I have never received a prophecy as alarming and unequivocal as this." While nothing changed in his surroundings, the priest suddenly felt someone's gaze upon him. "I believe I can prove it to you – Officius Petrakos, come forward."

The aging man complied silently, his mind almost completely blank. He did not know how he was able to move against the roaring wind, but with small steps, he managed to slowly approach the vortex.

"To use a human of all beings for this purpose – you disgust me, Vrabazard." The earth shinzoku seethed. "Human, did you hear all that was said? Do you realize what the one you serve is planning to do?"

The swirling cloud within arm's reach, the priest stopped hesitantly. In a paradoxical twist, the air movement dropped to negligible, and even the sounds of the storm had muted, only his own racing heartbeat and the Earthlord's words echoed in his ears. "I… I have heard everything, Rangort-sama," he finally spoke in a low whisper, although to him, it still felt like he was shouting. "But I have made a promise, and it is my duty to see it through. That's… all that matters right now."

He clenched his eyes shut and stepped through the foreboding, twisting darkness – into the realm of blinding light. The golden radiance was so strong, that he did not dare open his eyes again; instead, he simply waited to be told what to do.

"Listen well, Officius Petrakos," he heard the God of Flames say. "When our creator, the great Flare Dragon Ceiphied divided Ruby Eye Shabranigdu into seven pieces, it cost him his life – the demon lord's will plunged him into the Sea of Chaos. To allow his power to remain in this world as its protector, Ceiphied-sama split his very self into four; the individual parts were safe from the mazoku's curse, and only what little remained of him afterwards was lost to nothingness. We are his fragments; not true descendants or subordinates, but aspects of him. It is because of this that we may never enter each other's mind; our selves would no longer be separate, if only for an instant, and that could endanger us all." She paused for moment to let her words settle in. "However, we _can_ use an intermediary, and that will be you. I have tested you with a minor, vague prophecy I recently received back in Atlas City; you proved yourself capable of safely holding my visions within your mind. Are you ready?"

"Y-Yes." Perhaps only a little earlier Officius would have tried answering in a more determined tone; now he could no longer bring himself to care.

"Then we shall begin."

How long it lasted, the priest could not tell. Previously, receiving a prophecy had felt like an instantaneous flash, but this really was nothing like any that had come before. It was no riddle; he experienced everything that was to take place, he had seen it all precisely as if he was there in person: clouds stained with red, an orb of nothingness, faces ruled by shock and the emptiness that came after. Overwhelming emotions attacked him from all sides, panic, fear, and agony in quick succession. He suddenly realized: in that moment, he felt what his god felt – and that knowledge weighted almost as heavily on him as the vision itself.

"This changes everything." The Airlord's voice sounded, breaking the silence. "I can now see why you say what you say, as saddening as it is."

"I do not," the earth shinzoku argued, although not nearly as vehemently as before. "The threat involves a single human; no one else should have anything to do with it!"

"They unfortunately do. Look what their race had become: Even if we forestall disaster now, it could still happen later on. The longer we wait, the more likely it will be; the events of the past century had shown that to us without a doubt," Flarelord Vrabazard spoke in the voice of cold, unforgiving logic; Rangort could say nothing in reply.

"They could at least be given a chance to accept fate," someone interjected. Officius was shocked to find the words coming from his own mouth.

"What did you say?" The God of Flames sounded surprised.

The priest's eyes opened; he forced himself to gaze into the blinding light as he gathered every remaining ounce of his will.

"Flarelord-sama, I no longer fear death, but that was not always so. I had time to come to terms with my fate – please let the others have this chance as well!" he pleaded. "I was also devastated by what I've heard here, but now I understand: that future you saw must be kept from happening! If I could tell them… if I could share the prophecy with them, maybe they would see! Knowing the reason, perhaps at least some of them would find peace!"

"Vrabazard, if we are to go through with this," the Earthlord spoke in a defeated voice, but the undercurrent of defiance was still there, "then his request is my non-negotiable demand."

Flarelord hesitated on the answer, but ultimately gave her consent. "Very well. Officius Petrakos, I will let you live to act as our messenger, but we cannot give you much time. With every second, we might get closer to the end of the world, and to stop it--" the distant sound of thunder emphasized her words, "--the human race has to be erased from existence."

_To be continued…_

-o-

**Author's Notes**

Well, needless to say I would have never thought that this would take so long - or that the chapter would be so insanely long itself. :)  
As always, my biggest thanks goes_ Kaeru Shisho_, who had the patience to go through and comment on my 80 page long manuscript. O_O I'd also like to thank everyone who left a review (especially the late comments from _Reve_, thanks; if you'd log in I could even reply! ;)), those who mailed me about what's going on with the story, and the Slayers Livejournal community for their general awesomeness. :)  
I'm going to start writing the next chapter right away... and I can't really say anything more than what I also thought about chapter three: it is supposed to be shorter, and as such it should be out sooner. How it really turns out... well, only time will tell. ;)

See you then!


	6. The Black Dragon Falls, part 1

**Chapter 4. The Black Dragon**** Falls – Part 1.**

_A bit tipsy, Lina's left hand hesitantly sought for her cup on the table, while her right stuffed yet another slice of apple cake into her mouth. __She could not imagine ever getting tired of that taste._

_Finally having found her cup of wine, the sorceress turned away from the table and __yelled, "Hey, Mac! Come 'ere for a moment, will ya?"_

_A__ man around thirty approached, carrying several empty plates. Closer inspection would have revealed that the top of his head was getting bald, but Lina was not in the condition for close inspections. "Yes? What can I do for the newlywed Mrs. Gabriev?"_

"_Mrs. Gabriev, huh? You sure like living dangerously," she said with a smirk, and then lifted her cup into the air. "To the inn with the best cake on the continent!"_

"… _that has enough food so Lina won't end up stealing mine!" the blond swordsman sitting to her right added, raising his mug of beer._

"… _but thankfully provides several other __forms of entertainment instead," a man in a priest's robes spoke cheerfully from her left._

"… _whose owners are righteous and kind!" a dark haired girl piped in from the table's other end. "Come on Zelgadiss, your turn!"_

_The man in question looked perplexed. "Hm… well… which is a fine place to be, I guess," he managed to say with a shrug._

"_To the Black Dragon Inn!" Lina shouted__, grinning widely. "May it stand forever and ever! Cheers!"_

_

* * *

_

A weary-looking traveler trudged along the road leading eastwards to Sairaag. Her cloak, once an elaborate masterpiece, flapped behind her back almost torn to shreds; her gold-lined light green attire was smudged with dirt, with a giant tear running along her left shin which exposed her entire knee. She limped more than walked, as she tried not to place too much of her weight on her left foot, wincing at times when her tired mind momentarily forgot about it.

Despite her sorry state, the young woman still forced herself to move at a relatively quickened pace. Her eyes were fixed on the approaching landmark since it first entered her field of vision: a group of smaller, wooden buildings on the side of the road ahead, in front of the forest line the path disappeared into right after. They did not give off any kind of a remarkable impression, as the afternoon sun made their shadows long and their walls look even older than they actually were, but to the traveler, they seemed to be nothing less but the key to salvation at that moment.

Her destination finally close at hand, the woman approached the building closest to the road with shaky steps. As she reached for the door handle, she glanced up towards the sign above the entrance: a barely recognizable painting of a black dragon welcomed the visitors, or more precisely scowled at them from the worn piece of wood which hang on a smaller iron pole coming out of the wall of the house. A relieved expression materializing on her face, the traveler pulled the door open and stepped inside – and bumped right into someone standing near the doorway.

"What the— what do ye want?" the person demanded. He towered over the woman, being easily three or four heads taller than her. Although they were nowhere near the ocean, his clothes were strangely similar to a sailor's; a long, shaggy beard covered much of his face, which, along with his muscular build and narrow, aggressive gaze made him quite an intimidating sight to behold.

"I asked ye a question, lass." The man did not bother raising his voice; his commanding tone left little doubt that the woman would be wise not to try his patience.

"I'd… like to… acquire a room," the traveler replied in a fearful voice, her lips curved into a forced smile. "This establishment is an inn… right?"

"Oh… aye, it is," the giant said, although his expression did not ease even the slightest at the prospect of a new customer. Instead, he basically stomped to the table opposite to the entrance, and threw open the small book which lay upon it. "Give me yer name!" he ordered.

Not daring to hesitate on the answer even for a second, the woman replied with the first thing that came into her mind, "Li… Lina Inverse?"

The giant's hand moved to reach for the pen, but froze in place halfway. Slowly, he turned around to look at the traveler. Her feet began to shake as their gazes met, and she took a step backwards, ready to escape through the door if her words offended the enigmatic man for some unfathomable reason.

"Lina Inverse…?" he repeated, for the first time not angry, but confused. "_Another_ one?"

In the same moment, a pair walked down the stairs to the right of the table which led to the first floor; a sorceress and a priest, if their clothes were any indication.

"I can't believe how long it was since I've last been here," the sorceress spoke to her companion merrily. "Might just be my memory getting fuzzy, but I remembered this place having cleaner rooms, not to mention a lot more traffic—" Her eyes widened in realization as they fell upon the woman at the doorway.

"My-my, it looks like we meet once more, Jane-san," the priest offered the newcomer a friendly greeting.

"… Jane Smith?" the sorceress yelled.

"Miss Li-Li-Lina?" the traveler yelped. Her gaze darted across the room as she clung to the desperate hope that someone might come to her aid. Instead, she only saw the innkeeper's face, once again taken over by scorn, the sorceress whose expression was even less encouraging, and the priest, who was smiling, but for her that fact made him even more fearsome. In panic, she spun around, reached for the door – but fatigue got the better of her and she fainted on the spot, crumpling unceremoniously to the floor.

* * *

_I wonder what happened to this place__…_

Lina sat on a large wooden bench, in front of a table at the back end of the room. Much of the inn's base floor was one big open space, from the entrance with the staircase nearby to the restaurant section consisting of several sturdy tables surrounded by chairs and similar pieces of furniture not far from the sizable fireplace – currently looming empty in the gloom of the corner, unused in the summer heat. The same thing could be said about the establishment itself: Lina and her companion were the only guests around; at least, if she did not count the newest arrival, who slept slumped into the same bench to her left with the kind of serene look on her face which irritated the sorceress more and more every time she looked in her direction.

"Hey, wake up!" She nudged the girl impatiently, making her stir.

Jane woke slowly, gazing at her hands and feet with confusion and eventual amazement. "The pain is gone," she whispered, stretching her limbs with astonishment, and finally shot a dumbstruck glance towards the other two occupants of the table. "You have healed me…?"

"Lina-san did, yes." Xelloss nodded from his chair in front of her.

"T-Thank you…" The girl bowed towards the sorceress, looking flustered. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Well I have an idea," Lina spoke with an overly sweet smile, "you can start saying your prayers."

"Uh—?" That was all Jane managed to say in response, before her back was slammed into the bench.

"Make no mistake, there was only one simple reason why I did that," the sorceress growled, leaning uncomfortably close to the other woman, "I wanted you to be in good condition before _I_ beat the living hell out of you!"

Jane looked at her with an awkward expression. "Uhm, that implies that you are still mad at me, right?"

"Oh, not at all, this is just a traditional form of greeting in Zephilia— _o__f course_ I am mad at you, you idiot!" Lina yelled. "You not only ran away without a simple 'thanks' after we saved your sorry butt, but from the looks of it you went straight on with the Lina Inverse-act like nothing has happened!"

"No, that's not true!" The girl vehemently shook her head. "I did not continue with the… okay, maybe I did attempt it a few times, but the results were always catastrophic! After we split, the name 'Lina Inverse' caused me nothing but trouble!"

"Of course, why should we _ever_ doubt what you say," the sorceress muttered, turning to Xelloss, who followed the conversation with an amused look on his face. "Hey, Xel, look at all the flying pigs! They're everywhere!"

"I am entirely serious!" Jane attempted to bang her fist on the table – although considering the strength she put behind it, the verb 'caress' might describe the move more accurately. "My powers have disappeared! I can no longer cast any of the spells I could before!"

"That isn't surprising," the mazoku priest commented. His decision to join the conversation made Jane jump in her seat a bit; she was perhaps even more afraid of him than she was of Lina. "All these 'powers' as you call them were part of the Nameless One's own might in reality. They could not last after its departure."

"Well… I guess the bandit gangs I attempted to confront were pretty happy to take advantage of that." The girl cast her eyes down to the table. "I could barely escape; you saw the condition they left me in…"

_This is _so_ tragic, I think I'm going to cry._

The priest raised an eyebrow. "Bandit _gangs_, as in… more than one?"

Jane kept her eyes on the table, now looking not only bitter, but embarrassed. "A-At first I thought that I simply made some small mistake with the spells, so I tried again a few times… well, four or five times…"

_Okay, now this __really _is_ getting sad._

"Then there was the occasion when I jumped off a cliff before I remembered that I cannot cast Levitation…" The girl sniffed, her voice wavering. Lina gazed at her with bewilderment, trying to find some traces of dishonesty in her tale, but shockingly came up empty-handed. "…or when I wandered into the Desert of Destruction although I could no longer summon any water with Aqua Create…" Without warning, Jane broke out in a full-fledged wail. "I was found by a caravan, but they sold me into slavery! And when I finally managed to get away, I met three hungry trolls and—"

"Fine, fine, we get it already!" the sorceress snapped exasperatedly. "All right, you win. I guess being so incredibly pitiful and hopeless is a fitting punishment in and of itself. So… stop the bawling and just get out of here, okay?"

Lina leant back on the bench, and began massaging her temple with an annoyed look on her face. _At least I won't need to worry about her anymore; I've seen a few sorry cases, but this surely makes the top ten._ _If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would never believe that she wasn't bluffing. But there you have it…_

"Madam, I brought your dinner."

The last word immediately snapped the sorceress out of her thoughts. She grinned at the twenty-something blond woman who appeared by their table carrying a large wooden tray in her hands. "Oh thanks, you're a real lifesaver! I can only take so much stupidity with an empty stomach!"

The waitress returned the smile, and began unloading the tray's contents on the table. "A Bunny Soup Special, a bottle of red wine, two servings of Taforashian Pasta, an apple cake… and a cup of warm milk for the gentleman." She put the cup in front of the priest, who smiled in acknowledgement.

Her graceful movements and mannerisms looked to be entirely out of place for her occupation; they reminded Lina more of a well-educated noblewoman than some girl working as a waitress in an inn in the wilderness. For some reason there was also a layer of nervousness underneath it all, although she tried her best to hide it. "Is that really all, sir?"

"Yes, thank you," Xelloss replied politely, and took a sip of his drink. "It's because of… dietary concerns."

"You don't know what you're missing, Xel,"Lina commented as she grabbed on to her fork and knife, sizing up the feast before her with delight – right before her face abruptly fell.

"N-Now just a moment here," she stared at the plates in front of her, "is this really what I ordered?"

"Yes, madam." The waitress gave an uncertain nod. "Rabbit soup, pasta and apple cake."

"I guess that's true, but…" The sorceress risked another glance at the food in front of her and shuddered. The soup looked to be drowning in grease, while the pasta had an unidentifiable, sickly green colored powder sprinkled on top of it; its smell reminded Lina of dried seaweed. "I don't think it's just the nostalgia talking when I say that this isn't what food around here used to look like."

"Could you at least try it… please?" the waitress asked in an unexpectedly beseeching tone.

After a moment of hesitation, Lina placed the plate containing the apple cake in front of her. Of all the courses of her meal, this looked to be the most innocuous; its light brown crust and the faint smell of caramel and apple sauce could even be considered appetizing. The sorceress sliced off a small piece, spent a few seconds scrutinizing it on her fork, and ultimately, not finding anything suspicious, flung the bit into her mouth.

Then the fork fell out of her hand. With all of her willpower, she forced herself to chew.

"Uh, Lina-san, just so you know, your face has began to assume an interesting variety of colors," she heard Xelloss speaking tentatively, but she could no longer see the priest; tears started to fill her narrowing eyes, blurring her vision.

After several agonizing moments which felt more like an eternity, Lina finally managed to swallow the bite. She slumped back on the bench, panting from the shock and exhaustion.

"W-Was it really that bad?" she heard a mumble from the waitress' direction.

"Bad… Bad, she tells me…" The sorceress let out a mirthless chuckle. "Saying that this was bad would be an insult to all the stuff at least qualifying to be called as such!" She shivered. "I mean, just for starters, you mixed up the sugar with the salt… ugh…"

"I-I am really sorry, madam," the girl stuttered, "I will take it away and—"

"Do ye have something to complain about?" someone behind her cut in, addressing the sorceress. The tall, shaggy sailor approached the table; there remained little doubt now that he wore the scowl as his default expression. "If something's bothering ye," he leaned forward to stare into Lina's face, "ye can always pack yer things and scram."

"Really?" The sorceress met his morose gaze easily. "Says who?"

"Ahm, let me introduce you to my husband, Elric," the waitress said quickly. "Dear, I can handle this—"

"That's Captain Henton to ye, Inverse." Despite her plea, the giant was not nearly in the mood to back off. "I don't care how legendary ye think ye are, ye'll either behave or get out, if ye know what's good for ye."

_Captain? __What kind of an innkeeper calls himself captain?_

"Ooh, scary," the sorceress commented dryly. "So you want to throw me out? I'd like to see you try."

The man must have found something funny in her last sentence, as although his mouth remained set in a frown, his eyes lit up in a disturbingly jovial way. "Cause ye'll set the place on fire then?" he asked. "Ye know what, Inverse, ye'd actually do me a favor."

"Elric!" his wife cried out in disbelief.

The giant promptly turned his head away and began marching towards the kitchen door in the other end of the room, a tiny amount guilt showing in his slightly slumped shoulders. "Do what ye want… I don't care…" he muttered. After a few moments of hesitation, the waitress dropped her tray on Lina's table and hurried after him.

"It would seem that the current owners of the inn are still rather inexperienced," Xelloss remarked while the sorceress stared at the departing woman's back with her arms folded.

"That's putting it lightly." Lina shook her head. "Now I'm not at all surprised we're the only guests here."

"I think the captain was… pretty frightening…" someone said from next to the sorceress.

Lina turned around in surprise, glancing to the far side of the bench: Jane sat in the same position as she did a little while ago, looking straight at her.

"This might sound rude, but: _why_ are you still here?" the sorceress demanded.

"I-I'm sorry!" The girl shrunk back. "I just thought that I would inquire if… well…"

"_Well_?"

"…you could teach me how to produce real magic?"

—_come again?_

The muffled sound of the owners arguing in the kitchen became by far the loudest noise in the entire room. Xelloss scratched the top of his head, his expression stuck halfway between hilarity and incredulity, while the sorceress just stared at Jane with a nasty look.

"All right," she finally sighed, "there are probably a hundred ways I could make fun of this request before refusing, but I feel too hungry and insulted to bother. So I'll just say this: _HECK NO_!"

"But... why not? Please, I promise I'll do my best to be a good pupil…" the girl pleaded. "I'll work very hard and—"

"Are you really _that_ retarded?" Lina snapped at her. "Do you honestly expect me to _help_ you to pretend to be me? You are the very last person I would ever consider teaching anything!"

"I won't do that, I swear!" Jane responded hastily. "I won't say I'm Lina Inverse ever again!"

_Of course! __That changes everything!_

"I _won't_, and there's nothing you can say that'll convince me otherwise," the sorceress asserted. "I have some pride as a magic user, you know. I'll never stoop so low that—"

"I have outrageous amounts of money at home..."

"Like I said, I have my pride to think of and there's _nothing_—" Lina fell silent, and started eyeing the girl with a vary look. "…what do you mean by 'outrageous amounts'?"

"Around two and a half million in gold bullion's worth of valuables, I think," Jane answered, with the same straightforwardness like she had been asked about which day of the month it is.

Again, the sorceress sought for even the smallest sign that she was bluffing, but there simply was not any. "Two and a half… million?" she whispered, her eyes cast down at the tabletop.

"Do you agree with the Elmekian philosophers then, Lina-san?"

"Huh?... With who?" Xelloss' question caught the sorceress entirely off-guard.

"You know, those who say that the path to enlightenment is through abandoning pride," the mazoku quipped with a cheeky smile.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," Lina huffed as she made a face that was meant to look offended, but was laced with just the touch of self-irony to make it more lighthearted than anything. Or at least it was for a moment, because when she turned to the other girl, her face was once again all business. "Listen and listen good, because these are my final conditions. The fee will be two hundred thousand gold pieces per day… plus another three hundred thousand as compensation for my wounded pride. Not a copper less, got it? And if you fail to pay _every single_ coin you owe me, let me just tell you that you're going to wish you were never born. Have I made myself clear?"

"Y-Yes, very clear." Jane nodded vehemently. "The price is a bit… pricey—" The sorceress glared at her, making her squirm. "—but I'll accept of course!" She hurriedly stood. "I'll go to my room to change… although I am not sure my room reservation was established in the end… I'll be back in a second!"

With that, she ran away from the table. Before she disappeared behind the kitchen door to speak with the owners, Lina could still see her make a small leap of joy – which caused her to lose balance and fall head-first into the other room.

"Great, just great," the sorceress muttered.

"Why did you accept the job then?" Xelloss shrugged. "I can see that the sum is tempting, but—"

"Because that money is _mine_!" the sorceress growled. "Where do you think she got it, from charity? She made that fortune using _my _name so it rightfully belongs to me!" A nasty glint appeared in her eyes. "Anyway, even if Miss Jane 'Copycat' Smith is the greatest spellcasting prodigy I have ever seen, she won't have much time to learn anything before her money runs out. I'll teach her the Lighting spell, some basic protective magic, maybe, and then she can go on her merry way." She relaxed her posture, her expression now more contemplative. "Actually, this won't be so bad at all. I plan to stay at this place for a day or two anyway."

"You wish to stay?" Greatly surprised, the mazoku's gaze wandered from Lina to the untouched soup and back, as if trying to figure out the apparent contradiction which stood between that sight and her words. "May I ask why?"

"You may." The sorceress grinned. "But it's a secret."

Lina promptly decided that the face the priest displayed in reaction to his own catchphrase have made the coming days worth it already.

* * *

As his one-horse carriage edged towards the setting sun on the road leading towards the western coastline, the merchant sitting in front counted his remaining funds with a troubled look on his lined face.

"No, this won't do at all," he murmured. "With this much money, I can barely set up a stand in town… damn those people in Gyria City for raising taxes again!" He reluctantly poured the pile of coins back into his purse. "Then there are the upkeep costs, my savings for another horse… gah, and I forgot about that debt I owe the guild in Crimson Town! I need to plan my expenses a lot more carefully…"

Seemingly without reason, his horse halted.

"So much worry over mere wealth. Such people do not know what they are missing until it's too late."

Alarmed, the merchant sprang his head up towards the unknown voice coming from right in front of his carriage. An aging man stood there alone, dressed in fine scarlet robes.

"Hey priest, or whoever you are, get out of the way!" he shouted in annoyance. The man obeyed, but his horse would still not move an inch. In the meantime, the robed figure made his way to the side of his wagon.

"And regrettably, the final hour could not be closer at hand…"

The next thing the merchant knew, the man in scarlet was sitting immediately next to him on the driver's seat, and he could feel the soft touch of fingers on his forehead.

Then he screamed.

* * *

"Okay… here I go… _L-Light which burns beyond crimson flame, allow thy_—"

"That's 'let', not 'allow', Jane. I would rather skip you setting yourself on fire with your first spell, as hilarious as it might look like," Lina instructed her student in a serious voice. They were both sitting on the end of the double bed in the sorceress' room, upstairs in the inn; Lina looked rather bored, while Jane, now wearing a much less extravagant but also less frazzled loose tunic and pants, stared nervously at her own extended right hand with excruciating intensity, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"R-Right. Allow, I mean let me try that again." The girl took a deep breath. "_Light which burns beyond crimson f-flame, let thy power gather in my hand!" _Another quick breath. "LIGHTING!"

A tiny, candle-like blue speck of flame appeared in her palm, danced wildly for a moment, then dissipated. Jane continued to gaze at her hand for several seconds afterwards, like the greatest miracle in the known world had just taken place right then and there.

"I did it…" Her whisper broke out into a jubilant cry. "Miss Lina, I did it!"

"Yeah, well, congratulations." The sorceress could not help but smile at her enthusiasm. "The thing is, though, that you could do this only because the Lighting spell requires zero magical training. A guy from the mage council in Sairaag trained his parrot to recite the Chaos Words, and it works almost every time, annoying the hell out of everyone around him with the dancing lights."

"So… this wasn't anything special?" As quickly as it came, Jane's celebrating mood disappeared.

"No, but it is good for one very important thing: to practice how spellcasting works. What it feels like," the sorceress explained. "Normally, beginners study the fundamentals of magic for months before they are let anywhere near a spellbook, but considering this is a crash course of sorts and explaining things like the π-field would bore both of us to death, we just have to rely on your gut instincts." She stood up and patted Jane on the shoulder. "And these instincts can only be attained through practice, so keep practicing!"

"W-Wait! Where are you going?" the girl called when Lina's hand was already on the door handle.

"I think you can handle this on your own." The sorceress gave her an encouraging grin. "When your Lighting spell stays as bright as a torch and you can keep it going for more than a minute, then we'll continue."

Not waiting for an answer, Lina stepped through the door, leaving a dumbfounded Jane Smith alone sitting on her bed.

_Now to get some real stuff done…_With these decisive thoughts in mind, the sorceress went to the one place where things usually got done: the inn's kitchen.

* * *

A few yards from the inn's main building, the tall man sat on a tree trunk, and let the still gentle rays of the morning sun warm his back as he whittled a short branch of wood with a pocket knife. Birds could be heard singing from the trees of the nearby forest – the Miasma Forest, which lay all the way to the outskirts of the rebuilt city of Sairaag – but the man chose not to listen to them; indeed, the faint tune he whistled to himself tried to drown out the song from his ears with an almost spiteful effort. The birds triumphed in the end, though; the whistle died away as the man felt a shadow sliding up his back, blocking the sun out.

"Captain Henton?" The voice came from behind.

"What? Is there something ye want, priest?" He turned his head back just enough to confirm the other's identity, then went back to his work.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I offended you," Xelloss' tone quickly became apologetic, "I personally would have preferred Elric-san, but you seemed to be fonder of the former form of address."

"Yeah, that's mighty swell of ye," the captain said without an ounce of actual gratitude. "So, what do ye _want_, again?"

"I was simply wondering," the priest answered, looking unaffected by the man's hostility, "I remember hearing about a certain Captain Elric Henton from the port town of Gasshik." The pocket knife once again stopped moving in the giant's hands. "He is among of the best tradesmen on the sea these days, respected by his crew and feared by pirates all along the coastline – or so they say, at least."

The captain set down the branch he's been working on. "Maybe he was all that, at one time," he murmured. "But take my word for it, lad, the women of this world can be the undoing of any man, no matter how good or proud they think they are."

With small, lazy steps, Xelloss wandered around the trunk into the captain's field of vision. "It was your wife's idea to come here then?" he asked in a carefree voice, like he simply wanted to maintain conversation.

"Aye, that it was." The giant dipped his chin sourly. "Once she heard that this bloody inn was for cheap sale, she jumped on it and never let go."

"Cheap?" The priest sounded intrigued. "One would think that an inn next to such a well travelled road would be profitable."

"It wasn't that; the owners died out." The man shrugged. "The 'Vrumugun' family, or whatever they were called. The remaining distant relatives didn't want to run the inn no more." He cast a suspicious glance at the priest. "Why do ye care, anyway?"

"Nothing special, I am simply curious… Vrumugun, you say?" Xelloss spoke in a thoughtful manner. "Of course, that does make a lot of sense. Thank you for your time, Captain Henton." With a wave of his hand, the priest retreated into the inn. The tall man watched him go with a disgruntled expression.

"Curious… yeah, and I'm the sea serpent's granddaughter!" he muttered to himself. "Ye ought to feel lucky that we're not on my ship…"

* * *

Lina skimmed through the cookbook in her hands with a look of bewilderment on her face.

"You made the stuff on the menu from this? These recipes are obviously bogus."

She glanced questioningly at the waitress, who leant against a kitchen table in the center of the room and tried to look anywhere but at her.

"I don't have much experience with cooking yet," she mumbled. "Before we came here less than a month ago, the best I could manage were pancakes."

_Ugh__. Not the best way to start running an inn._

"But I've heard that some of these dishes were unique to this place," the waitress continued, "so I tried making them. Then I tried to learn from my mistakes… " She sighed. "Then I tried to figure out what mistakes I've made while I tried to correct my mistakes, and so on. The customers were pretty unhappy."

"Yeah, I can imagine." The sorceress gave a grave nod. "Now look… what was your name again?"

"Nilian, madam."

"Well mine is Lina. Use it." The girl said with a tiny cringe. "Anyway, Nilian, the recipes we're talking about were passed down through the family that ran the place – there was no need to write them down. One of them likely wanted to use this book to fool the competition, or just had a pretty strange sense of humor."

_Or, knowing Mac, probably both._

"But I don't think that's your biggest problem right now," Lina said as she tossed the book down to the table. "Even _with_ the real recipes, you wouldn't have a chance until you got familiar with the basics, and I'd wager you still need a few lessons in that department. So," she looked around the kitchen, "what do you plan to give your brooding husband for lunch?"

"Uh… pancakes?" Nilian fidgeted.

"Wrong answer!" The sorceress grinned. "We're going to give him a three course meal that will send his jaw falling all the way to the basement!"

"We?" The waitress stared at her in confusion.

"Sure, why not? I've been so much on the road lately, it's been ages since I've last done something like this," Lina replied cheerfully. "Come on, we have lots of stuff to do!"

* * *

A large drop of sweat rolled off Jane's forehead, down her cheek and finally tickled its way along her neck until it disappeared behind her collar.

"Stupid… perspiration…" She grimaced, struggling to maintain her concentration. "Come on… come on…"

The speck of light dancing on her palm hardly seemed to listen. It moved left and right in random patterns, its color changed from cold blue to light red and back, but it showed no intention of growing any bigger or brighter – and finally, as if to signal its utter disinterest toward the girl's demands, it jumped off her hand and dissolved into a patch of purple smoke.

"Gaah! This isn't working! What am I doing incorrectly?" Jane bolted from the bed and stomped around like some child who had been denied entry to the amusement park. "I can't just continue on like this, it's completely pointless! I need to find Lina…" As she considered tracking down her tutor, her gaze fell upon the coat stand placed next to the entrance. The sorceress' black cloak and shoulder guards hung there, slowly swaying in the gentle breeze from the room's open window. "Or… maybe I shouldn't bother her? She's probably doing all sorts of important activities right now," she muttered to herself as reached towards the piece of clothing with scarcely hidden excitement.

She barely touched the cloak, merely nudged it with her hand in fear that some powerful protective spells will be unleashed on her for her transgression; but instead of a column of flame, a large leather-bound book fell out of one of the pockets – something which looked much too big to fit in there in the first place.

"Yes! This will surely help a lot!" Jane's eyes sparkled as she sat back on the bed with the book in her hands. She marveled at the illustration of a large demon with long red horns on the cover for a while, and then threw it open around the middle.

All pages were hand-written, and each of them seemed to be the work of a different person; the book was likely a collection of manuscripts which Lina have acquired on her previous travels. As Jane browsed the pages, she came up on one which was covered completely by a large pentagram, with only a short, miniscule text written in the middle. It immediately piqued her interest.

"Beware," she narrowed her eyes and leaned closer as she tried to spell out the writing, "do not ru… read this text aloud or the seal will be broken."

The moment she finished the sentence, dense black smoke began to pour from the covers to her legs and the floor. It felt wet, malevolent and chilling, like its mere touch robbed her of part of her life force.

"Oops…"

* * *

The pleasant smell of spices and roasted meat filled the kitchen as the three-course lunch slowly advanced towards completion, and, to Lina's surprise and relief, with much fewer complications along the way than she had expected.

"Next, we need to chop these carrots into pieces about as thick as your little finger. Yeah, like that," she instructed Nilian. "Hey, that's a pretty nice technique you got there!"

"I tried to watch how our servants were doing things back at home, and I saw this there," the woman commented absent-mindedly, her attention focused on the carrots.

_Did she say servants…?_

"Well, if you learn this quickly, then I think you'll get the hang of things in no time— whoa!"

Out of nowhere, a violent tremor shook the building. Nilian just pushed the carrot pieces to the side and reached for an egg on the table, when it slipped out of her hands and took to the air across the room.

"I'll get it!" Although the egg was already very much out of reach, Lina lunged forward, whispering something under her breath. A moment later, she disappeared with a flash of golden light – only to reappear in the same position upside down in the air. "Drat!" That was all she managed to say before her less than glorious re-introduction to the ground.

"W-What was that?" Nilian asked in surprise.

"The holy magic teleport spell," the sorceress muttered as she picked herself up from the floor. "Ridiculously short incantation, ridiculously hard to translate from the dragon language and even harder to cast correctly. I managed to put it together a week ago, but it hasn't worked a single time so far." She looked around. "What happened to the egg, anyway?" A stream of sticky, half-transparent half-yellow liquid began to pour down from her hair to her face. "Oh, _perfect_."

* * *

The book still in her trembling hands, Jane watched as a creature of nightmares took form, its ash-colored figure solidifying out of the surging black smoke. Two unnaturally long, clawed arms sprung from the barely humanoid torso, legs nowhere to be found; its face was featureless, with glowing dark red holes where its eyes and mouth were supposed to be.

"Re-seal, re-seal… come on, how I am supposed to return this accursed thing into the book?" Jane paged through the tome frantically, but found nothing – in fact, she came to the bitter realization that she couldn't even understand half of the text on the pages.

"Finally! After so many long years, the shackles are no more," the creature spoke, although the girl could not tell whether the unnerving, deep voice sounded in her ears or in her head. "Now the world will once again fear the name of Wyqixaould! Nations will fall before his overwhelming power, and his obsidian darkness will cover the sun itself! The time for grievous, horrifying vengeance has come, and will be carried out by his hands!"

"Wyq-who? Y-You mean there was another demon in the book?" Jane asked, the prospect making her even more terrified.

"Hah, the foolish mortal fails to understand that Wyqixaould had spoken about Wyqixaould himself!" The being sounded affronted. "But she _will_ listen… to the language of pain and suffering!" The smoke swirled even more violently as the creature drew closer. "Yes, she will be the first of this age to taste the Great One's limitless power and cruelty… along with her priest friend—" The demon froze in place, its head turned to the side in alarm. Jane followed its example, and was shocked to notice Xelloss standing beside the bed.

"Why hello, Wiki-san!" The priest waved. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Uhm… ahm…" The monster started to back away. "The great Wyqixaould has suddenly decided that he needs to be somewhere else!"

With that, it promptly disappeared; the only thing left behind from the swirling mass of smoke was the faint smell of brimstone.

"An odd thing to say when it comes to our race, perhaps," Xelloss commented cheerfully, "but for a mere low-ranking mazoku, I believe Wiki-san has too much of an ego for his own good." He looked at Jane, whose face was still ruled by terror. "No need to worry, Jane-san, I highly doubt he will return."

The girl pointed a shaking finger at the priest. "B-But _you're_ still here!"

The priest raised a hand to his cheek as a gesture of puzzlement. "Oh dear, you wouldn't be still upset about that unfortunate scene in the swamp at Man's End, now would you?" He turned towards the door. "But regardless, I'd advise that you come with me downstairs to join Lina-san and the others. A few interesting developments will shortly take place, of that I am sure." He glanced back with an impudent smile. "That is, unless you feel overjoyed by the prospect of practicing the Lighting spell all day long."

That obviously had an effect on the girl; with hesitant steps, she caught up to the mazoku, although still made sure to stay out of arm's reach.

"Why, what is Miss Lina doing?" she asked warily, as they exited the room and began to walk towards the stairs leading to the ground floor.

"Right now? Just cooking lunch," Xelloss answered lightly. "From what I've managed to catch of the conversation, she is pretty good at it."

"Uh…what?" Jane stared at him, mouth hanging open.

"Did I say something strange perhaps?" The priest raised an eyebrow of amusement.

"Yes! I mean, no…" The girl hung her head embarrassedly. "I just thought she was participating in something more important after she just left me here… Although, it sure would look strange seeing Miss Lina doing something like that." She faced the priest again. "Can you tell me… just what kind of a person she is exactly?"

"My goodness, Jane-san," Xelloss spoke, his face showing obviously exaggerated surprise. "You would seriously consider seeking information from an evil demon?"

"Who else could I ask? You seem to know her well." Jane mumbled under her breath, breaking eye contact. "I know that she has every reason to be hostile, but I must at least try to get on her good side. Even if I don't learn anything while I'm with her, we could at least… I don't know, blow up an amount of bandits? Anything but just sitting here like this."

"And you thought throwing money at her would be the quickest way to become friends, I take it?" The girl's head snapped up in reaction to the priest's words, who just cocked his head to the side. "Why do you look so surprised? Perhaps you are somewhat unlucky and common sense is not your strong point, Jane-san, but yesterday showed clearly that you are not nearly as dense as you might seem at first glance – and that is not bad at all. Getting others to underestimate you is in fact a usable tactic." He raised an index finger to emphasize his point. "However, you too underestimate Lina-san if you believe that you can get anywhere near her with your current methods."

By then they have reached the bottom of the stairs. Xelloss leisurely leant against the wall, studying Jane with interest from under his hooded lids; the girl gazed at the floor, her expression thoughtful and also somewhat sad.

"But what can I possibly do then? Please tell me!" she finally said, her voice pleading.

As if he was waiting for this exact question, the priest smiled and began to move his index finger towards his lips – but stopped and let his hand fall down half way.

"Oh dear," he sighed, "ever since Lina-san began introducing her own secrets yesterday, mine no longer feel as fun. I must get to the bottom of her claims as quickly as possible, or this may even have lasting results..."

Jane was about to ask what he meant, but had to notice that she was no longer looking at the mazoku, but at an empty portion of the wall.

She also noticed someone yanking her collar from behind.

"Hey Jane, you're just the person I need!" Lina exclaimed as she began dragging her through the room towards the exit. "We need some milk for the pudding, and you could really give me a hand!"

"We're going to milk cows?" the girl whimpered.

"Yep, unless you came up with a milk-summoning spell during practice," the sorceress replied; her pupil involuntarily jumped a little when the word 'summoning' reached her ears. "Don't tell me you never did that before."

"No, I did, I did." Jane said in a solemn voice and dejectedly followed her tutor out of the building. "I'm sure it will be… a huge amount of fun."

* * *

The old constable's eyes narrowed as he regarded the small village house ahead.

"This is the place, sir." A neighbor woman spoke to him in a shaky voice. "They went in, I heard a scream… they did not come out yet."

"Go back to your home and lock the door," he ordered, drawing his sword; the woman's fast paced footsteps signaled her departure as he approached the building. The rays of the midday sun sparkled on his battered plate armor – a keepsake from his old days as a professional soldier.

The region had a problem with bandits; 'Lina Inverse hasn't passed by here in a while', as people said, and even though the ruffians feared and respected the constable, he was in charge of four small towns and could not be everywhere at once. Thus came the idea to hire a few swords as help. They managed to secure some funds from the local nobility in order to defend the trade route passing by here towards Sairaag to the east, and began to assemble a militia; or, at least, they tried. With the recent wars between Lyzeille and Raltague, they found precious few men available for hire – until a group of mercenaries from Saillune came along.

The constable never trusted the soldiers of that feared nation and was against hiring them from the start, but they had good equipment and decent training, so left without alternatives, he gritted his teeth and prayed that his fears would turn out to be unfounded.

Apparently, they were not.

The old veteran kicked the remains of the building's cut-down door out of the way and stepped inside. The room was in complete disarray: he was greeted by overturned tables, smashed chairs and piles of other broken furniture. The owner of the house was sprawled on the floor in the middle with several cuts on his body, obviously dead. Next to him lay one of the mercenaries – there was no mistaking Saillune's black and brown armor – but strangely, it was also a sword of his fellows that was sticking out of his chest.

Passing through the wreck, the constable found the rest of the mercenaries in the next, similarly devastated room. Apparently, they gathered all the alcohol they could find in the house and were pouring it down their throats one bottle after the other.

With a furious cry, he threw a broken chair into their midst – that certainly got their attention.

"I don't know what has gotten into you," he seethed, "but you Saillune dogs are going to pay with your hides for this."

The mercenaries looked at each other, and then broke out in roaring laughter.

"You don't get it, huh?" one of them said, his words barely comprehensible, but underneath his uncontrollable mirth, the constable saw clear despair in his eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore; we're _all_ going to die! The priest showed it to us! This is the end!"

"A priest? What in the world are you blathering about?" While it would have been easy to dismiss the man's words as a drunk's babble, the old veteran's instincts told him differently. He felt that something sinister and horrifying was afoot, and that thought sent a chill down his spine.

The mercenaries suddenly fell silent, their laughter cut in their throats. Their widening eyes gazed out the room's broken window.

"They're… here…" A soldier spoke, his voice but a mere frightened whisper.

The constable caught something from the corner of his eye; he spun around and struck, but his sword hit nothing but the wall. Now the presence was behind him; but just as he tried to face it again, another one appeared in the far end of the room. Then a third one. And a fourth.

The mercenaries were yelling something in panic, but the constable could not listen. He swung his sword around frantically, trying to keep the elusive attackers which he _knew _they were there at bay, or at least get a good glimpse of them – but all he saw were the flames of the building's burning thatched roof as it came crashing down upon him.

* * *

Captain Elric Henton stared suspiciously at the bowl of soup on the table.

"Are ye sure the sorceress didn't put something in it?" he asked his wife, who moved uncomfortably in her seat and tried her best to pretend that she did not hear him.

With an annoyed shrug, Lina grabbed her own bowl and poured its contents into her mouth all at once.

"Miss Lina be careful, that's very hot!" Jane cried out, but by the time she finished her warning the sorceress was already refilling her bowl from the cooking pot at the center of their table.

"There, are you satisfied?" she growled. "If you are, then shut your mouth and dig in, c_aptain_."

Nostrils flaring, the giant rose from his seat, shooting a murderous look at the sorceress. However, he received not one, but two similar looks in return, both from her and from Nilian as well. Outnumbered, he reluctantly sat down, showed a spoonful of soup into his mouth – and his anger instantly began to melt away. Lina could barely recognize the captain during the rest of the meal; he ate silently, took double portions of everything and although she could never say for sure, it was possible that she even saw a tiny glint of joy in his eyes.

_Maybe all this time he __just wanted something edible to stuff his stomach with?_

"This was wonderful. I can't thank you enough, madam— uhm, Lina," Nilian said as the supply of the pudding desert began to run out due to overwhelming demand. "We always heard that you were a great sorceress, but the stories never said anything about you being such a great cook, too."

"Yes, this is even more surprising to me," added Xelloss, idly fiddling with a teaspoon in his hands. He ate only small portions, but seemed nonetheless interested to have a taste of the food. "My last pieces of information were admittedly dated, but I was under the impression until now that Lina-san's cooking talents were miniscule to say the lea—"

The priest could not finish due to the fact that the chair was yanked out from under him by some mysterious force.

"Thanks a lot, Xelloss," the mysterious force deadpanned. "He's right though. While the compliments feel great for my ego, I actually know only a handful of recipes, which I practiced for decades in order to get them right." The sorceress began twiddling her thumbs, looking slightly flustered. "You really wouldn't have wanted to be the test subjects for my first pudding… it came to life." Eager to change the subject, she turned to Nilian. "You, on the other hand, do have something to brag about. Anything I've shown you once, you could do right after. I might be no expert but that's not something you see every day."

The woman was left speechless by the praise – and blissfully unaware of the sharp look of jealousy she received from Jane.

"I only got one question to ask," the captain broke his lunch-long silence, his voice once again loaded with concern bordering on suspicion.

_Oh great. Lunch break's over and we begin the show anew?_

"Why are ye doing this?" the giant stated his question.

Lina shrugged nonchalantly, attempting to hide her surprise. "Doing what?"

"We're complete strangers to ye," the man continued with unprecedented patience. "I heard ye saying that the rooms were dirty and the food was bloody awful. Other folks just packed up and left after this. Ye ain't got no reason to be here, so why the heck are ye helping us?"

Nonchalance gradually disappeared from the sorceress' face as his words sank in, replaced by indecision.

"Why, you ask… hehe…" She tried to buy some time with a small, forced laugh. "Well… how about if I say that it's a sec—"

"Stop! Please don't say it again, Lina-san!" A protesting hand emerged from under the table. "It'll be ruined if it becomes too commonplace!"

"You mean you think it hasn't become commonplace already?" Lina cast a flat look at the hand's owner. "Xel, I frame the days with red and draw little flowers and hearts into my calendar for every week that passes without you saying that little catchphrase of yours, but the awful truth is that you never gave my drawing skills much of a chance to improve."

"Lina, please…" Nilian interrupted the argument.

_Okay, okay, I'm trying to evade the subject, __so sue me!_

"Fine." The sorceress stood. "I'd wanted to wait at least until tomorrow with this, but if you're so insistent…" She walked up to the empty fireplace in the corner. "Where did I put that again? Oh, I remember." She crouched down, and drew a small pentagram into the dust on the floor in front of the hearth. Shortly afterwards, the drawing flared up with blue light.

The dishes and pieces of silverware began to rattle on their table as the fireplace slid to the left, the cavity revealing a low stone passageway behind it with steep stairs leading down underground.

"Right this way, folks," Lina flashed a half-smile, gesturing the others to come closer.

Xelloss picked himself up from the floor and complied without a word. Jane only hesitated for a moment before running to the fireplace, the morning's excitement reappearing on her face in a blink. The captain and his wife, however, remained glued to their seats.

"R-Right this way my eye!" the giant cried out after managing to pick his jaw up from the floor. "Why the hell should we go with ye to that… dark cave or whatever?"

"No one is forcing you to," Lina replied, her impish grin still in place. "You can decide whether to explore this place with a powerful sorceress by your side to help out, or stay and live here with the knowledge that there is a dark, scary cave below your home which you know nothing about."

Nilian put a gentle hand on her husband's fist. "Dear, I think we should trust her."

The captain muttered something nasty under his breath – but the matter was nonetheless decided.

* * *

The passageway was not only steep and low but also pretty narrow, and the careful descent proved difficult even in a single file for the taller and wider members of the party – true to his former occupation, Captain Henton swore like a sailor as he tried to push himself forward without falling down the stairs.

"The builder didn't have much room to work with, you know," Lina commented with some resentment, after the giant attached a few colorful adjectives to 'the one responsible for this trash'. She walked ahead, with a sphere of light in her hands to illuminate the way. "But while we're at the subject, you might be wondering who this stuff belongs to."

"Was it an evil warlord who attempted to conquer the nation?" Jane offered her theory eagerly.

"With an inn as his headquarters? Did you really learn to be a historian?" The sorceress chuckled. "But he wasn't an everyday guy, I'll give you that. His name was Macen Vrumugun, and he was a sorcerer."

"Vrumugun?" Her unwelcome pupil repeated, like she realized something of great importance. "Was he related to Erisiel Vrumugun? That woman played a huge part in the second destruction of Sairaag!"

"Yes, he was her cousin, and he also had the dubious glory of serving as the template for her army of copies, but that's where their connections end," Lina replied, sweeping a spider web out of her way. "Actually, he also lost his home after Sairaag was laid to waste, so not long after his friend Zangulus married a brain-dead princess from Zoana, Mac decided to settle down too and built this inn next to the Miasma Forest, way before the reconstruction of the city began. He wasn't that great of a sorcerer, to be honest, but I really mean it when I say that he was a _fantastic_ cook."

"But if he settled down, why did he build a hidden passageway like this?" Nilian asked. With a hand on the wall to steady herself, she moved extra carefully in her long skirt.

"That's a good question." Lina smirked mysteriously. "Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough; the vault isn't really that…" She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. There were no more walls to reflect the light of the spell in her outstretched hand – as far as her eyes could see, ahead of her was nothing but a vast darkness. "…big?"

The mouth of the passageway widened considerably at the very end, so all five of them could gather there to gaze into the black void. Jane looked enthralled, Nilian slightly scared, while the captain introduced brand new, even nastier words to his grumblings. Xelloss was the only one who hardly showed any reaction – but that was nothing unusual.

The sorceress raised the brightness of her spell as high as she could, but could not see anything ahead still.

_Like a permanent, diluted Dark Mist… it feels as if the air itself absorbs the light around us._

"This isn't the way it should be," she muttered. "Not even close."

"Maybe yer fine sorcerer buddy built a few upgrades since ye have last visited?" the giant suggested, putting an amount of disgust behind the 'sorcerer buddy' phrase.

"Rubbish, he couldn't even make a large enough dent into the ground!" Lina snapped; the captain gradually began to wear down her patience. "_I _built this damn thing, and I should know pretty darn well how big it should be, for Ruby Eye's sake!"

_Gah, real smooth__ Lina, real smooth…_

"You? But you just said—" Jane began, but the sorceress cut her off.

"Stop getting lost in the details and help me out, okay? Cast your own Lighting spell, maybe we can see more that way."

Intimidated by her somewhat stern order, the girl quickly gabbled off the incantation, which resulted in a mutated-looking blob of faint light, vaguely similar to a human head – perhaps it was just Lina's imagination, but she could swear she saw it sticking out a fluorescent tongue at its caster before dissipating after a second or two.

"I guess the practice didn't go all that well, huh?" The sorceress sighed, while Jane just stood there looking entirely devastated.

"Here you go, Lina-san." Xelloss raised his staff; the others had to avert their gaze as the jewel on top began to glow with a blinding greenish light.

Shielding her eyes with her hand, Lina could finally look around. The ground before them turned into a rocky, uneven slope right away, which continued as far as the priest's magic allowed her to see, widening the passageway into a humongous cave. A three foot wide winding path along the slope was their only option to safely carry on forward.

"Ye better go back up, woman," Captain Henton told his wife as they also took in the scenery. "Trusting Inverse is all fine and dandy, but she obviously ain't got things under control. Who knows what'll happen."

"Had I been so afraid of what would happen, I would never have left home, Elric," Nilian replied evenly. "I'm not going anywhere." She raised her head up and started to walk down the path without another word.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Lina ran after her, with Jane, Xelloss and an incredibly frustrated Elric Henton not far behind.

_And __I was about to tell them _both_ to go back – so much for that idea…_

While the cave floor around them looked entirely natural and untouched, the path itself was covered with a shiny material that reminded the sorceress of marble, but with the difference that no joints could be seen along the surface; the entire path was seemingly crafted from one impossibly big slab.

"This construction is very odd," Lina, once again in the lead, continued to study the parts of the chamber illuminated by the priest's staff. "It tries to force us to go along the path, even though if we were real thieves, chances are we'd all be able to levitate down and ignore it. And anyway," she added contemplatively, "why go even further down? The staircase I made back in the day leads deep enough already…"

She heard a decisive thump from behind.

"Hey, what's with the stomping?" She shot a questioning glance at the captain. "You'll bring the roof down on us."

The giant gave an ignorant shrug. "That ain't me!"

His words were followed closely by the approaching sound of stone grinding on stone.

_Is that really what I think it is?_ The sorceress listened to the noise incredulously. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill scream from Jane's direction.

"Gaah! A giant rock sphere is coming down the path, right after us!" she yelled.

_It sure looks like it._

"Coming through!" Lina made her way to the back of the group, eyeing the spherical boulder, twice the height of even the captain, which indeed approached them with great speed along the path. "Wow, I can't believe it." She chortled. "The oldest thing in the book!"

"Lina, what should we do?" Nilian asked, trying to appear calm. She did not even finish her question when a ball of red light crashed into the sphere; numerous cracks appeared on the stone surface right away, and a second later the boulder fell apart, its remaining pieces slamming against the cave wall.

"Just that," the sorceress replied cheerfully. "Anti-climatic, I know, but that trap really was terrible; even without magic, we could've just jumped off the path. There's nothing to worry about."

"But if ye blew that thing up," the giant commented quizzically, "then why is that accursed noise still getting stronger?"

Lina cocked her ears, her smile fading; the rumble now came from multiple sources above them, a lot louder than before.

She spun around. "On second thought, _run_!"

The urgency in her voice had the desired effect: without a sound (except for a frightened yelp from Jane), they all began sprinting down the path at top speed.

_End of Part One._

_(Part 2 is also up of course! __ :) )_


	7. The Black Dragon Falls, part 2

**Chapter 4. The Black Dragon**** Falls – Part 2.**

Lina glanced back as she ran, and saw half a dozen boulders raining down the slope; she suspected from the still strengthening background noise that there were many more incoming from beyond the veil of darkness. The stones no longer stuck to the path, which left the party at a huge disadvantage in speed; in fact, the first few were already upon them.

"This'll slow them down a little," the sorceress said as she extended a hand behind her back. "BOGARDIC ELM!"

The contours of a good thirty feet long portion of the cave floor behind them changed instantly as the slope's rocky texture seemed to melt away. As the spheres reached the area, they sank into the ground exactly as if they had tumbled into a muddy bog. The next wave rolled over them, but met the same fate shortly afterwards.

"I bought us some time, but this won't keep them at bay forever!" Lina yelled ahead. "Tell me if you see anything resembling a door!"

"But what if there isn't any door?" her pupil shouted back.

"Use your head, Jane!" Lina snapped at her. "There is something hidden in this place, and I don't think smashing that treasure with falling rocks was part of the defense plan! It has to be in a separate chamber to keep it safe!"

"The tunnel ends up ahead, Lina-san!" Xelloss called. "There looks to be a narrower passageway there."

"Yes, but something seems to be in the way." Nilian added as she tried to make out the details as the exit emerged from the cave's darkness. "It's some kind of… metal…"

"Whatever it is, it's toast! FIREBALL!" The sorceress launched her spell at the first glint of metal she caught in the distance. As the fiery sphere neared its target, it was revealed to be a large, thick metal disk. The projectile reached it, but instead of impacting with a great explosion, it only produced a small flare of light and blinked out.

Lina knew all too well what that meant.

_Th__at disk is made of orihalcon… Someone really upped the ante here._

"Okay, change of plans!" she ordered. "We need to roll that thing out of the way!"

"By 'we' ye mean me, huh?" The giant growled, sizing up the metal disk. "Fine, but ye better get those boulders off our backs 'cause it ain't gonna be quick."

"Aye-aye, Captain Emo." The sorceress raised her hand to a mock salute and turned around as they reached the end of the tunnel. The noise still came from a distance but gradually drew closer, meaning that her mud pool just got filled up. Lina secretly wished the boulders would run out before that, but she was not all that surprised by the opposite outcome.

_T__hat would have been too easy._

The priest moseyed over to stand beside her. "What is the strategy, Lina-san?" he asked with amused interest. "Another obstacle perhaps?"

"No, I won't risk another Bogardic Elm with the others so close to us. There's always a chance that it'll make the walls collapse," the sorceress answered as the first incoming stone appeared ahead. "Our strategy, Xel, is—" The boulder burst to bits after encountering a red flare of light. "—to shoot everything that moves!"

The mazoku smiled. "Hmm, simple but effective, I suppose." He made a swiping motion with his staff, and a dark cloud consumed three additional spheres, which then lit up and exploded, leaving only fine dust behind.

_He'll help me__ just like that? That sounds almost too good not to be suspicious, _Lina thought as she let loose another spell. They needed to maintain a constant barrage of destructive magic, not only because of the sheer number of incoming threats, but because after Xelloss began using his power offensively, the light from the jewel on the top of his staff faded – the flare of the explosions now provided the only source of illumination in the dark cave.

In the meantime, the captain put all of his weight against the orihalcon disk, his eyes squeezed shut in the effort, but the obstacle did not move an inch. With a frustrated snort, he relaxed his posture and opened his eyes to see if it would be easier to try from the other side, and noticed his wife propped against the metal surface beside him, trying to push it with all the little strength she had for her slender physique.

"…what are ye doing?" the giant asked, bewildered.

"I want to… help you," she managed through gritted teeth.

"Always this silly stuff ye get into yer head!" he spat the words with apparent exasperation in his voice. "Can't ye see there's nothing ye can do? Leave this to me and go hide somewhere!"

Nilian straightened and looked his husband in the eye; the fear the situation instilled into her showed in her mannerisms and expression, but that just made the anger burning in her gaze even more vivid and resolute.

"Of course, I should just hide, right?" she hissed. "Like when you, the brave captain, were always at the sea for months on end, and I sat in my family's grand prison of a mansion, hoping that my big, strong man would not get killed by someone even bigger and stronger like any 'good wife' should do! Yes, those were the days, Elric!" She turned away and began pushing the metal disk with greater effort than ever before, as if out of spite. "I am through with this!... I don't care if I sleep in a run-down inn, I don't care if those boulders rain down on our heads, I want to be there with you!"

Sadness deflated the captain's tall form like a giant balloon. "But Nilian…" he said almost beseechingly, "can't ye see that neither of us is made for this kind of living…? Why do ye keep up with this bloody conviction?"

All restraint gone, her wife yelled at him at the top of her lungs. "Because I love you, you lumbering imbecile!"

Elric Henton hung his head in defeat. "Aye," he murmured, readying himself against the disk as well, "I guess that'd be a problem we got in common."

A giant pillar of flame rose from the ground ahead, crushing several boulders in its wake and bathing the cave in a crimson glow for several seconds. Scared by the light and the booming noise, Jane curled up behind the goat-sized rock she used as cover, her body shivering in terror.

"Why… Why am I so frightened?" she whispered to herself. "Isn't this what I requested? Wasn't I doing the s-same things before I lost my powers?" She looked down at her hands. "Without that nameless demon… am I r-really… so weak?"

A large dark mass flew over her head. As she raised her gaze, she saw Captain Henton holding a stone almost as big as herself in his outstretched hand; he just barely caught it before he or his wife were crushed.

"What's the matter with ye, Inverse?" the giant bellowed at the sorceress. "I thought ye were keeping these hellish things away!"

"Sorry!" Lina glanced back nervously. "I blast everything I can see, but the visibility sucks!" Firing off a beam of crackling white energy towards the rocks with her left hand, she flung her right upward, and a sphere of light came into existence above her head – still, next to the flashes of the other spells and the darkness of the cave, it looked tiny and insignificant. "That didn't help much." She shot a glare at the priest. "Xelloss, don't tell me someone of your caliber can't keep that light from your staff going in parallel! Stop messing with us!"

"How ungrateful of you, Lina-san. Even though I was being all cooperative…" the mazoku said, his mouth twisted into an infuriatingly fake pout. He then turned his head back as well, one of his eyes open to glance at Jane. "I don't think we'd be having issues if each of us would do their part, am I right?"

The girl quickly looked the other way, but still stood from behind her cover. "You're r-right." she stuttered. "I c-can't just lie here like some coward…" Mustering all her courage and willpower, she set her face into the most resolute expression she could manage, and shouted, "I'm not just s-some demon's pawn! I'm Lina Inverse… Lina Inverse's greatest pupil ever and I'll show you my true power! Or… something along those lines!"

Jane clenched her eyes shut; her mind focused solely on her goal, she began the incantation, "_Light which burns beyond crimson flame, a-allow thy power to gather in my hand!"_

The sorceress' head snapped back in alarm. "Jane, stop! I told you it's 'let' not a—_"_

"L-LIGHTNING!"

Something took form in the girl's hand that made even Xelloss take a step backwards.

"Get down!" Lina cried out and dove towards the ground. She could not see, but still clearly felt a wave of enormous energy passing over her, producing ear-splitting claps of thunder as it crashed into the incoming stones – or more precisely it did not crash into them, but went through them, destroying everything in its way in a heartbeat.

By the time the sorceress looked up, the cave ahead of her loomed empty and silent.

Jane just stood there with an outstretched arm, her face blank. "I messed up… right?" She winced.

"Well," Lina walked up to her to look into her face with an annoyed frown, "that surely was the most _horrible_ piece of spellcasting I've seen in a while…"

"Yeah," the girl mumbled, "I'm really not a—"

"…but it also worked out pretty well, so keep it up!" the sorceress added, her frown morphing into a grin. Ignoring Jane's flabbergasted look, she turned to the captain and Nilian. "Any luck so far?"

"We could move it just enough so we can squeeze through," the giant panted. "If ye won't fit in it's yer loss though, 'cause I ain't touching this bloody piece of scrap again!"

_Really? This coming from the guy who's almost as broad as he is tall?_

In the end, they all managed to get through rather easily. What greeted them beyond was a smaller tunnel; it appeared to be part of an entirely natural cave, which made it harder to walk through, but at least they were not going any deeper this time.

"Gah, Miss Lina, my feet are disappearing!" Jane suddenly shouted from behind the sorceress.

"That's smoke, Jane," Lina replied dully. "It's coming from the chamber up ahead."

The room they entered was lofty, but nowhere as deep as the cave before. The unnaturally chilling smoke got thicker and filled the ground up to their waists, with a few small grey puffs floating even higher, preventing them from examining the chamber in its entirety.

_This feels familiar for some reason… as if I read about it somewhere._ Lina's hand moved to cast a spell to sweep out the pool of smoke, when a deep, malevolent voice filled the room.

"Pitiful mortals… entering this cave to steal its treasures," it spoke. "The only excuse you may have is that you couldn't know that the embodiment of terror itself stands guard here…" As if a curtain had been lifted, the smoke moved to the side to reveal a stone pedestal at the other end of the chamber with a book resting on top of it, along with a pale, scarcely humanoid figure. "…your certain doom: The Great Wyqixaould!"

_What the—__?_

"I-It's that Wiqi-something person again!" Jane yelled.

"But what on Earth is he doing here? He's supposed to be sealed away into a manuscript I found decades ago!" The sorceress tried hard to make some sense of the situation, but could only come up with the conclusion that it made absolutely no sense. "And since when do you know about him, anyway?"

"Jane-san had broken the seal by accident," Xelloss explained in a carefree voice.

_She did what?_

"Yes, and shortly afterwards the mighty Wyqixaould has decided to guard the tome within this chamber," the demon continued. "It's not as if he was blackmailed into doing so, by the way. No, the Great One was certainly _not_ threatened with immediate destruction if he refused to comply – he came here because of his own dark and mysterious reasons."

"Who is this Wik-whatever son of a biscuit eater that thing keeps talking about?" The captain snorted.

"It is called the _third-person self-reference _you insolent worms!" the ghastly (and now more than a little angered) mazoku hollered. "All those who are disrespectful will feel Wyqixaould's terrifying wrath!"

"There's just one little problem with that." The sorceress stepped forward. "No matter _how_ you came free, I can still easily put you back." Her hand reached under her cloak for the book – when she noticed that she was not wearing any.

_Oh shoot, I __forgot I left the cloak and my shoulder guards upstairs! If I could only…_

Her expression hardening with concentration, Lina muttered a short incantation and disappeared. The demon glanced upwards at the ceiling.

"The Great One demands to know what you are doing up there, Lina Inverse," it called.

"Ahm… savoring the view!" the sorceress said as she clung to a long dripstone with both arms and legs. "That, and also—" a barrier of wind forming around her, she let go and flew directly at the mazoku. "—preparing for a surprise attack! ELMEKIA LANCE!"

"Ha, is the so-called powerful sorceress such a fool, that she thinks she can harm Wyqixa— Ouch." The deformed demon staggered back as the light blue beam hit him in the face. "Well, maybe a little."

"We're just getting started!" Lina landed in front of her opponent, another spell within her cupped hands at the ready.

The mazoku apparently did not want to risk being hit again – disappearing in a burst of smoke, he withdrew to the Astral Plane. "True greatness also means knowing when to make a tactical retreat!" his disembodied voice sounded.

_Yeah right._

"Wise words, Wiki-san," Xelloss spoke. "Now the only thing that remains is to show even greater wisdom by voluntarily returning to Lina-san's book."

"What?" the demon boomed.

"It is just a simple piece of advice of course," the priest shrugged with a jovial smile. "In order to avoid, you know, certain _accidents_ from happening."

"W-Well..." the voice of the mazoku was disappointed, broken, almost sad. "The greatness… the wisdom of Wyqixaould truly is… uh, it is truly… truly… ah, _damn you all!_"

The sorceress could feel the barely detectable presence quickly departing the cave.

"Do you think he really returned to the book?" Jane asked.

"No doubt about that one," the sorceress said before Xelloss could answer, with a disapproving look on her face which could have been intended for the priest or her, or both.

"I am really sorry, Miss Lina." Jane bowed her head. "I should not have disturbed your belongings."

"Hey, the only reason you could get hold of that book is because I let you to," the sorceress' expression softened. "To be honest, I did not expect you to have the guts to do it."

_Not to mention to do _that _with it… I only left it there for her because there were some pages from a course book in it which she could use._ _A certain smiling priest has a lot of explaining to do…_

"So Nilian," Lina retrieved the tome from the stone pedestal, "want to have a look at this? It's what we came for, after all."

"Ye bet we want to look at what ye made us risk our necks for!" the giant marched up and grabbed the book from her hands. He probably never was an avid reader, as he spent several moments silently spelling out the golden text on the leather-bound cover. "…well I'll be a lily-livered land-lover…"He handed the tome to his wife with utmost care; the moment she set her eyes upon it, her face lit up with joy.

"This is fantastic!" She beamed. "Thank you so much, Lina!"

"What? What is it?" Jane edged closer to get a glimpse too.

"The greatest treasure this place has to offer," the sorceress replied with a wink, while the girl finally managed to peek over Nilian's shoulder, and beheld the title with widening eyes:

_T__HE MOST SECRET RECIPES OF THE SORCERER-COOK MACEN VRUMUGUN_

_Written by Macen Vrumugun and Lina Inverse_

_(Vault, traps, monsters and other stuff keeping you from reading this cover by Lina Inverse)

* * *

_

Nilian's happiness and enthusiasm remained limitless long after they returned to the inn. She took a seat at one of the tables and squarely refused to tear her gaze away from Macen Vrumugun's book.

"And here is the apple cake!" she spoke with overflowing excitement. "Yes, this makes so much more sense! With the help of what I've managed to learn so far, I will be able to make all of these recipes!"

"It's not as easy as it looks, you know. It wouldn't be so secret otherwise." Standing beside her, Lina made a half-hearted attempt to steer her back towards reality. "I suppose you will get the hang of it eventually, though."

"We will make the Black Dragon Inn famous again," Nilian turned towards her other neighbor at the table, "right, Elric?"

"Aye, that we will, that we will." The giant nodded mechanically. He still did not share much of his wife's enthusiasm, but now he did not seem to be brooding either – at least until he set his eyes on Lina. "One thing is still bothering me though."

"Who would have guessed?" The sorceress rolled her eyes. "What is it now?"

"Ye never answered my question, Inverse." He regarded her with a suspicious gaze – although Lina began the suspect that the look she thought to be of suspicion was actually more his way of displaying bewilderment. "Why did ye help us like this? What was in it for ye?"

"Give me a break; it's not like that." Lina crossed her arms. "It's true that the inn is nowhere near a place I'd want to spend my time as it is right now, but…" Her gaze wandered from the captain to Nilian and back, a small but warm smile forming on her lips. "…two people like you, completely out of their element, starting a business like this… you're either very crazy or very brave, but regardless, one can't help but respect you for it a little."

Her smile spread into a flustered grin. "And also… well, half of the Black Dragon is actually mine."

Deafening silence reigned for several long moments around the table.

"Like hell it is!" the giant managed to shout in the end. "We bought the whole thing from the Vrumuguns fair and square!"

"The Vrumugun family could only sell what they still owned, Captain Henton." Xelloss approached from the direction of the staircase. He held a large sheet of aging paper in his hands with Sairaag's seal at the bottom. "I recall being with Lina-san in this inn only once, but it looks like she was a frequent guest here afterwards as well. According to this contract I found in the city archives, she eventually managed to convince Macen-san to commission a vault under his inn, and her payment was the aforementioned share in ownership."

"Says you!" the captain spat, pointing a hand at the mazoku. "Everyone can write some scribble like that—"

"It's legit, dear," Nilian shot him down after taking a look at the seal, although she appeared no less shocked by the development.

_I can't believe__ Xelloss managed to track that down. _Lina eyed the old writing in the priest's hand wonderingly.

"Well, Mac had to agree with me that losing these recipes would have been a great tragedy to the world itself." She nodded self-righteously. "I never saw a single coin out of the whole deal though, because the witty bastard paid me with part of his inn instead. A lot of use _that_ was to me… but at least I could always count on a free room and some delicious meals when I came by here. That was the reason I told you who I am in the first place – I don't check into places with my real name all that often. Too many complications."

"So ye were doing this for the free food then?" the giant snorted. "Aye, 'it's not like that' at all."

_One of these days, I am going to blast this guy to the Moon._

"But if you own half of the inn, Lina," Nilian asked the sorceress with a questioning look, "where does that leave us?"

Lina pretended to consider the question for a moment. "How about this? We'll keep the same agreement I had with Mac's family. You cover all the costs and get all the profits, and I get my 'free food'." With a meaningful glare, she extended a hand towards the captain. "Deal?"

The giant drew a deep, weary breath. "Why look at me?"

"Oh, I know you're not wearing the pants in this family." The sorceress gave him a cheeky smile. "Just trying to humor you."

Lina was fully prepared to hear a string of curses or some other violent outburst from the captain, but instead, the man flashed her a toothy grin.

"Well, I don't envy ye with the Ol' Squinty Eyed priest, either," he chuckled good-naturedly, and shook the sorceress' hand. "It's a deal, Inverse."

…_w__hat can I say? I've just been nailed.

* * *

_

The sun did not cover much distance on the sky yet; thanks to the long summer days, dusk was still several hours away. Lina regarded the group of wooden buildings musingly as she and the priest strode along the edge of the forest line, following her suggestion to speak in private. From where they were, the inn's walls gleamed like gold in the bright sunlight which shone from the almost completely clear sky above – if the sorceress did notice the clouds gathering at the edge of the western horizon, she paid them no mind.

"My, is that nostalgia I see in your eyes, Lina-san?" Xelloss asked with an eyebrow raised, stealing her attention away from the inn. "Do you miss your settled down life? I understand that for many of your race, it is as normal as life can be; but in your case I could never quite grasp the fact that you could spend decades in one place, which humans affectionately call 'home'."

The sorceress smiled faintly at the awkwardness that crept into the priest's voice at that last word.

"I was never glued to any one spot," she muttered. "But yeah, it felt very different. For a while, I never thought I'd be able to settle down, either." Her gaze slid along the path ahead of them. "After being on the road for years, though, you just start to miss something… not a place to live your life like some reclusive hermit or a meek housewife, but a place to return to, after you finished going around the world for the umpteenth time. It actually felt pretty nice." She punched a hand into the air. "That time is not this time though! Right now, it feels great to wander around the globe again." She turned to her companion with a smirk. "Actually, Xel, you too ought to feel lucky that I am in such a good mood. If I was feeling just a little bit crankier, I might have set Captain Unbearable on fire, but you on the other hand would have deserved something far-far worse."

"Some really harsh words," the mazoku said, his own smile also not wavering for a moment. "But can you honestly blame me for attempting to discover your secret, after what you did yesterday? It was one straightforward challenge if there ever was one."

"Yeah, that's all just fine," Lina halted and leaned closer to the priest irritably, "but you completely ruined my beautiful vault! It was a _masterpiece_, I tell you: traps upon traps, ingenious spells and curses, scary and powerful golems – everything! And what did you put in their place?" She shook her head with a disgusted look. "Boulders…! Boulders and a mazoku who might have had a career prospect as a circus clown if he weren't so darn ugly! I've never seen a bigger waste of talent and resource – _my _talents and resources – in my entire life!" Her outburst finished, the sorceress turned away to glance at the inn again; there, in one of the rooms of the upper floor slept her previous doppelganger, completely spent by the day's events. "It was about Jane, right?" she asked in a lower, much more serious voice.

"In part, yes." Xelloss nodded.

"That power she summoned back at the cave was no simple lucky spell mishap, that's for sure," Lina commented thoughtfully. "And she shouldn't have been able to even _find _that page with the seal in my book without the proper incantation."

"Indeed. And there are also other things to consider," the mazoku added. "Does Jane-san strike you as the kind of person to survive in the wilderness alone for any amount of time, without help from a being like the Nameless One?"

"Err, not really." The sorceress had to concede that the girl's tales after losing her powers seemed pretty far-fetched. "Many things don't make sense with her to begin with."

"There is more to Jane-san than meets the eye, certainly, just like I believe there was more to the reason why the nameless demon trailed her in the first place," the priest continued. "I can't say I know the answer, but some of my suspicions were confirmed at least."

"What suspicions?" Lina looked at him curiously. "Do you think—" She was silenced by an index finger brought to her lips.

"A secret, I'm afraid," Xelloss replied merrily, like he was allowed to say that phrase for the first time in a hundred years. "It feels splendid to have things back in their proper place, don't you agree, Lina-san?"

"Yeah, splendid," the sorceress deadpanned. She turned around to start walking back to the inn, but the priest's voice stopped her.

"By the way, I would have been very interested in looking at your vault. I'm willing to admit that my own creation suffered from the short deadline I had to consider."

"What are you talking about?" Lina looked back incredulously. "Weren't you the one who ruined it?"

"Oh, not at all." The mazoku shook his head. "You see, the ground is a bit unstable in this area. Unnoticed by humans, parts of it move by a yard or so every hundred years. For buildings aboveground this is less of an issue, but for underground caverns… well, when I discovered yours, there was very little left except for the staircase and the tome itself buried in the depths of the earth. Unfortunately, I could only discover this fact shortly before lunchtime; you did manage to obscure the entrance quite well."

Lina stared at the priest, her expression blank.

_In other words, if Xelloss __did not do what he did, I would've made a complete fool out of myself in front of everyone. That's… embarrassing beyond words._

She cleared her throat to break the odd silence.

"Well, I still think the boulders were pretty horrible," she asserted, blushing slightly. "If it weren't for those, though," she looked up to him with a warm smile, "I might have given you a kiss just now."

She then grabbed the priest by his collar and yanked him downwards. "Ah, what the heck."

As to be expected, however, with the best of moments came the worst of timings.

"Lina Inverse…! By the God of Flames, I cannot believe I managed to find you so quickly!"

The sorceress displayed amazing acrobatic skill by jumping several feet away from Xelloss as she heard the unknown voice.

"What-where— who is it?" It took a moment for Lina to notice the scarlet-robed figure that stood among the forest trees. His lined, aging face and receded white hair was distantly familiar to her – she met the man once, not long ago. "Officius?... You're Officius Petrakos from the Temple of Flarelord in Atlas City?"

"Yes, I am he." The old man approached them, with much more vigor in his steps than the sorceress remembered.

"Well then, ah, great to see you again!" The sorceress tried her best to act friendly. "How's it going? You sure left us in a strange situation last time."

"True, and I can't even begin to say how relieved I am that we crossed paths once more," he said in an honest voice. "It was maddening to discover all too late that Vrabazard-sama's smaller prophecy she had given to me in the city was actually about you as well, and that I let you leave unaware of the danger."

"Hey, hold it, slow down." Lina raised her hands in front of her chest. "Did you just say 'prophecy' and 'danger'…? Let me guess, the world faces imminent destruction? Again?" She cast a flat look in Xelloss' direction. "Can't your folks ever go on a vacation or something?"

"This is just as news to me as it is to you, Lina-san," the mazoku replied, his slitted eyes examining the priest in red with noticeable unease.

"You misunderstand. I fear that the danger to the world is not directly about the mazoku." Officius sighed, gesturing towards the sorceress. "The biggest threat to us, Lina Inverse, is none other than you, yourself."

All humor disappeared from the situation for Lina in an instant.

"What are trying to say by that?" she asked quietly.

"I can understand that this is shocking news." The old man took a step forward, extending his right towards the sorceress. "Come, let me show you what my god has shown me, so you can see the tragedy that befell you – no, that befell all of humanity."

Lina instinctively took a step back, while Xelloss next to her tightened his grip on his staff. "I'd rather hear the live version, thanks," she said apprehensively.

Officius tiredly shook his head.

"Forgive me, but I have no time. I must bring the news to as many people as I can, and the army does not wait for me."

The next thing the sorceress knew, Officius somehow skipped the ten feet distance between them and now stood right in front of her.

_He teleported? But__—_

She could feel cold fingers touching her face, and her world went blank…

…only to be replaced by a world of red.

Everywhere she looked, the landscape showed a tint of scarlet – under a sky covered by crimson clouds she saw a rocky terrain with brass stones. Ahead, upwards on a cliff stood several figures; their clothes, also bathed in red light, were torn by the roaring wind. She could not see them clearly, except for one person at the middle of it all: herself.

She wore the same monochromatic clothes, placing the vision somewhere in the near future, Lina thought. Still, there was something strange about the apparition, part of it being the sword hilt she saw sticking out from her back above her shoulder line. The sorceress had no time to dwell on it, however, because her double opened her mouth to talk.

"Shield me with everything you've got!" she ordered those around her. Then the apparition looked Lina in the eye, slowly began raising her hands above her head, and spoke Chaos Words that belonged to a spell which the sorceress thought she would never hear again.

"_Darkness beyond blackest pitch, deeper than the deepest night! King of Darkness, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Chaos!_"

Lina's eyes widened in terror. "Stop, you idiot!" she screamed. "Without the talismans, there's no telling if you can handle the perfect Giga Slave or not!"

Her voice was lost in the tumult as the wind blew even stronger, only the sound of the incantation reaching over it as a sphere of utter chaos and void took form within the apparition's hands.

"_I call upon thee and swear myself to thee! Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I—_"

In that moment, time halted and refused to go forward. There was no longer sound or wind; as Lina brought an uncertain hand forward, she could touch the tiny glistening speckles of floating dust from the cloud that just passed by her when it was frozen into the unchanging present. Her gaze was still drawn to her petrified double, however, and for the first time she realized that she was not seeing the scene with the eyes of a human, but with that of a far greater being. An aura began to appear around the apparition's form, slightly flame-like in appearance, twisting around her body. Somehow she instantly knew what it was: in addition to the physical reality, she was gazing into the Astral Plane, the realm of the spirit as well.

That aura around her double was somehow _wrong_, she realized. It felt foreign, unfriendly and dark, and while everything else remained unmoving, it seemingly grew bigger and bigger, now almost covering the entire cliff.

_A human's astral body can't… it can't be that big._The thought ran through Lina's mind, only to be followed by another, which she knew was not hers.

"_It does not belong to a human. It is that of a mazoku."_

She sensed paralyzing fear in the air, and suddenly, as if time tried to make up for its previous inactivity, everything started moving with incomprehensible speed. She no longer saw herself, but the faces of those standing around her, still unrecognizable, but certainly struck by shock and panic.

"Lina-san!" A female voice shouted her name, but neither she nor anyone else could reply as everything, even time and space itself fell apart, and she could feel all of it falling along with her into a bottomless pit, collapsing into a tiny, indiscernible black void of never-ending pain and agony…

Her eyes flew open as she felt her back hit the ground. She scrambled to sit up just in time to watch Officius slamming into the dust as well, a residue of crackling black energy tearing at his clothes for an instant before dissipating.

"Interesting," Xelloss spoke, his staff pointed at the priest. "I'm sure I put enough power behind that beam to end your life many times over."

"I don't know why you raise a hand against me, mazoku," Officius promptly got to his feet, looking entirely unharmed, "but Flarelord-sama gave me more than enough of her might to drive your kind away."

He made a thrusting motion towards Xelloss, and an invisible shockwave hit the mazoku priest from behind; his eyes wide open in surprise, he whirled around and struggled against it, but was fighting a losing battle. The unseen force threw him off his feet and flung him into the canopy of the forest. As the old man lowered his hand, Lina could see a holy magic seal engraved into the back of his right palm, turning invisible quickly as its light died out. Her body drenched in sweat, the sorceress tried to stand, but her feet were not obeying her commands.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Officius turned his attention back to her. "The end of the world as we know it. The fate which is worse than death."

Lina was not sure what she saw at the end of the vision; all she knew was that it had to have been something horrible enough that her entire being protested against even the thought of recollection. "And what if I did?" she seethed. "Even the start of it was pointless. If I am really that great threat you speak of, then who on earth I would use the Giga Slave against? Unless your god thinks I throw that spell around on a whim…?" she spat with disgust.

"I don't doubt your good intentions at this moment, but it is likely that the Demon Lord will already influence your decisions by that time," the old man spoke in a grave tone. "You surely remember what happened to the Red Priest, Rezo? Vrabazard-sama's wisdom had shown me his slow but steady descent into depravity, just as I was shown the quick but nonetheless tragic descent of the former assassin known as Luke."

"Luke?" the sorceress whispered. "But why…? You can't believe that I'm—"

"This prophecy is undisputable proof, Lina Inverse," Officius declared. "You hold one of Ruby Eye Shabranigdu's fragments within your soul, and the seal is about to be broken. This will be the Demon Lord's fourth awakening in a very short span of time, which foretells a sure end to all of creation very soon – unless we deal with not just the current calamity, but the root of the problem as well."

Lina found herself without a word to speak.

"What nonsense is this?" Xelloss appeared between the priest and the sorceress, his open eyes ridiculing the former. "My race naturally never held the shinzoku in especially high regard, but this underwhelms my worst expectations. I have known Lina-san for a century; during these hundred years she has met many of my superiors, including two resurrected pieces of Ruby Eye-sama himself. Does your master take us for such fools to think that none of us would have noticed if Lina-san truly had a piece of our creator within her?"

"What you believe, mazoku, is none of my concern." Officius raised his arms again, and the sorceress could see the holy magic seal on his hand lighting up once more. "For the sake of the world's survival, Lina Inverse must not leave this place alive. If you interfere, I will put you out of my way."

"Oh, please try." The mazoku's face twisted into a malevolent smile as he grasped his staff with both hands. "It will be entertaining to see how you'll fare now, without the element of surprise on your side."

Neither of them moved, but the sorceress could feel enormous magical energies building up in the air around them – she could not guess exactly how powerful Officius was, but she knew that he was capable of at least as much of destruction as herself. Her thoughts fell back on the Black Dragon Inn, standing only a few hundred yards away…

_Ah, move you stupid legs, move!_

Her desperate struggle to stand up was interrupted by the old man's scream. Officius inexplicably fell to the ground, gasping for breath, his limbs twitching uncontrollably.

"The sickness… no!" he yelled, clearly in pain. "Not now..! Not when I'm so close!" After a last, exasperated cry, he disappeared from view with a flare of golden light. Not a second later, a two feet long cone of pure darkness struck the spot where he lay, blasting a small crater into the ground.

"Well, I must say that was quite pitiful," Xelloss said evenly, relaxing his stance and dismissing the cone from existence. "He seems to have a good grasp on holy teleportation magic at least; I cannot tell where he went except for a general direction."

"Don't worry, I think he'll turn up soon enough," Lina replied in a weak voice. The priest glanced back at her, surprise spreading over his features as he saw the sorceress propped against a tree, barely managing to stand on shaky legs.

"What did he do to you, Lina-san?" he asked, bewildered.

"Threw me for a spin… that's for sure," the sorceress managed to say between ragged breaths. She raised her gaze to the sky; the sun's rays seemed to be missing their previous warmth, and the storm clouds from the western horizon were slowly but steadily drawing closer.

* * *

Jane wandered into the inn's restaurant section still half-asleep, suppressing a yawn. She had not slept even a full hour before hunger overcame her fatigue and was now intent on getting herself something for dinner in order to return to bed.

She found the others arranged more or less in the same way as she left them: around a table in the back. For some reason, though, the atmosphere in the inn felt nowhere near as triumphant as before.

"But Lina, could you at least tell us _something_ about why you have to leave so abruptly?" Nilian questioned the sorceress, her tone kind but also a bit exasperated.

"Sorry, but the less you guys know, the better it is for all of us," Lina answered, reservedly stuffing a fork-full of pancakes into her mouth. "Let me just say that things might soon get messy and I don't want to get any of you into trouble."

The young woman did not seem to be satisfied with her answer; as a last option, she turned to Xelloss. "Can't _you_ tell me anything then?"

"I could tell you many things, Nilian-san," the priest said, raising her hopes if only for a fleeting moment, "if they weren't a secret."

The captain stood a bit farther from the table, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, and studied Lina's features intently.

"Is someone out to get ye, Inverse?" He threw up the idea as an offhand comment. "A new 'friend' ye ran into outside?"

The sorceress nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, you could say that."

"But why—" Nilian began, but her husband stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder, making her fall silent.

"Listen woman, if an assassin or the devil knows what just attacked Inverse and managed to escape with his life, that ain't no laughing matter," he muttered. "I hate to say it, but she's probably right to go somewhere she can face the bastard alone. Killers care nothing about collateral damage."

It took Lina a few seconds to recover from the shock caused by Captain Henton actually agreeing with her on something. She then set her face into a resolute expression and rose from her seat. "Okay Xel, I think I'm fine now. Let me get my cloak and then we can be on our way." She glanced towards the couple. "The pancakes were great, Nilian, thanks. Take care, both of you."

"Hey, hold on!" Jane stood in their way as Lina and the priest moved to leave the room. "Please give me a few minutes to pack my belongings; I want to go with you!"

"Sorry kid, that's not gonna happen." The sorceress looked her over, her face determined. "I can't say you've become my favorite pupil since yesterday, but this mess is way too big to drag you into it. You can keep your money; today's lesson was on the house." Her gaze relented slightly. "Do yourself a favor and go home… and try not to get yourself killed along the way."

With that, the sorceress walked to the staircase. Had she turned back, she would have noticed Nilian and even the captain looking after them with worry, while Jane hung her head and trudged into the restaurant section with a depressed sigh.

Lina's room felt somewhat unfriendly compared to what she remembered from the morning. A chilly wind blew in from the open windows; the weather turned slightly cold as the sun dove into the mass of thunder clouds ahead, its radiance dying out.

"What an awful time to hit the road_,_"the sorceress murmured as she grabbed her cloak and shoulder guards from the coat stand.

"I haven't seen you this serious in a long while, Lina-san." The priest picked up conversation while she fiddled with her gear. "You can't possibly believe what Officius-san said, can you?"

Lina hurried to the windows to close them, as the wind now chilled her to the bone. "Of course I don't believe it, but you haven't seen what I've seen, Xel," she answered reluctantly. "In that vision, someone… something seemed to take control of my body in the middle of casting the Giga Slave, and the result… I'm not sure what it was, but it left a hell of an impression on me." Still not satisfied, she fastened her cloak and tightened it around her, refusing to consider that her shiver might actually have little to do with the wind itself. "We can interpret these prophecies any way we want, but Flarelord never comes up with complete nonsense; something _will _happen which is in some way connected to me, and I don't like that one bit."

"Well, this would not be the first time when Vrabazard was entirely off base about something," the mazoku commented musingly. "In fact, you also witnessed one of her great blunders very recently."

"I did?" Lina blinked. "When did that happen?"

"Remember when we first met Officius-san?" Xelloss gestured towards the southeast, in the direction of Atlas City. "As he told us not long ago, he received his first 'magnificent prophecy' back then. This vision failed to identify you as the world's biggest threat, but on the other hand offered the quite amusing theory of the two of us being a married couple."

The sorceress chuckled as her thoughts jumped back to the embarrassing scene in the temple. "Hey, you're right. I guess not all of Flarelord's divinations are all that accurate in retrospect…" She trailed off, noticing that something else got her companion's attention. Xelloss gazed confusedly at the ceiling, his eyes snapping open.

"No," he whispered, "I must be mistaken…"

The walls of the inn shook, a giant crack appearing on the western facade. Then with an earsplitting blast, the window frames flew apart, and through the hole a stream of flames flooded the room with searing heat. Only her enchanted clothing saved Lina from receiving possibly lethal burns; the fire spread unnaturally quickly to everything around them, and turned their surroundings into a bonfire in a matter of seconds. After recovering from the shock, the sorceress put an arm in front of her to shield her face and ran across the blazing room. With a grunt, she lunged through the cavity in the wall, using a Levitation spell to slow her fall.

Once on the ground, she gazed at the burning inn blankly, petrified by the sight as the neighboring pens and other buildings also caught fire. It was no accident or ordinary sabotage; someone poured the cloud of flames on the structures directly from above.

"Is Officius _insane_?" she shouted beside herself, grabbing the mazoku's arm as he landed next to her. "Xelloss, the others are still in there! We have to get to them, _now_!"

"Lina-san, I don't think it is him…" The priest looked stupefied. "It makes little sense, but from what I've seen there are—"

"Less talk, more teleporting!"

In a flash, their surroundings were replaced by the interior of the inn's base floor – the heart of an inferno. The ceiling and most of the tables were burning, the heat in the air quickly becoming unbearable. Jane, Nilian and the captain had been driven into the corner, next to one of the few non-flammable parts of the building, the stone fireplace.

Several figures made of living darkness were advancing on them – low-ranking mazoku, from what the sorceress could guess.

"Elric, look out!" Nilian yelled in fright.

"Get away from us or I'll break yer neck, ye demonic scum!" The giant stood between the two women and the attackers, who did not seem to heed his warning. With a roar, the captain punched the nearest one in what he considered to be his head, sending the creature flying across the room. The others lashed out with their shadowy limbs towards him, but before they could reach him, their forms were enveloped in a blue-white column of light, which devoured them in a second.

"MOTH VARIM!" Lina already cast a second spell; several orbs of light rained down upon the flames around the fireplace, extinguishing them and clearing the way. "Move it!" she yelled at the three. "Head to the exit, quickly!"

Xelloss glanced upwards. "Lina-san, the roof—"

"I know!" she snapped back, casting several more anti-fire spells as they worked their way towards the inn's entrance. "The way is open, run!"

Nilian and Jane wasted no time tearing the door open and jumping out. As Captain Henton reached the doorframe, however, he glanced back and noticed a leather-bound tome on one of the burning tables – the flames had not touched it yet, but it looked to be only a matter of moments before it was incinerated.

"By all the demons in Hell, the woman's bloody recipe book!" he swore, almost knocking Lina over as he spun around and ran back into the room.

The sorceress was about to scream something horrible at him when she heard an ear-wrenching crack from above. By instinct, she launched a Fireball upwards to clear as much of the falling debris as she could; the point-blank explosion's force propelled her and Xelloss through the door, out of the building.

Then, before their eyes, the Black Dragon Inn collapsed completely into a burning pile of wood.

"Elric_!_" Lying on the ground, Lina heard a scream. She distantly registered it as belonging to Nilian. "We have to get him out!"

"He is no longer alive." The priest's simple words also sounded miles away.

"How can you know such a thing_?_" It was Nilian again, on the verge of hysterics. "You don't know anything either!"

"He… He can tell." The sorceress was not sure how loud had those words left her mouth, but the woman's protests stopped, and were replaced by violent sobs.

The sense of danger drove her back to her feet; she could feel the presence of several enemies appearing all around them, their half-visible forms similar to those from before.

"M-Miss Lina! Look!" Jane shouted, pointing at the sky. Before the dark backdrop of the storm clouds circled two yellow flashes of light: golden dragons.

_If we've been attacked by__ mazoku… what are the dragons doing here?_

As if they waited for this moment, the creatures halted their maneuver and dove through the air towards them. They opened their mouth, something flaring up within…

"Enough."

Lina's body froze; she was hit by some kind of a mental pulse which numbed all her limbs for an instant. The blurred demons around them recoiled, and the dragons also broke their dive, flapping their wings to hover in place. She glanced in the direction she felt the shockwave coming from, and saw Xelloss floating about four feet high in the air above them.

"A little time out, if you all don't mind," the priest said, only a fraction of his usual mirth traceable in his voice. The demons moved further back, but one of the golden dragons ignored him, choosing to swoop down towards Lina and the others once more.

"How rude." The mazoku flicked his hand, and a burst of darkness enveloped the dragon, nearly cutting its wings in half. The creature trashed desperately about in the air before crashing into the ruins of the inn – Lina barely had the time to put up a wind barrier to protect them from the outbursting debris.

"Damn you, Dragon Slayer!" the other dragon boomed angrily. "We should be allies right now!"

"Allies? Please, don't insult me like that," Xelloss spoke in a voice that was both kind and icy cold at the same time. "Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Oh yes, I meant to ask what is happening here." He looked down at the pack of demons. "You are remnants of Chaos Dragon Garv's army, I take it? I've heard that he was not above trying to make deals with certain ryuzoku clans, but to use such an alliance against simple humans… that is a brand new kind of low."

"W-We aren't servants of the traitor, Xelloss-sama," one of the demons stepped forward, its snakelike voice hissing obsequiously. "Our master is the great Dynast Grausherra, and we are currently under Priest Huraker-sama's orders to be here."

"Haven't you heard, mazoku?" the dragon called from above. "The gods and demons have made a pact. I don't like it any more than you, but our races have been united under a single goal."

_What?_ Lina shook her head in disbelief. _That's ridiculous! The shinzoku and the mazoku were fighting each other since the dawn of time! They'd never do this!_

Xelloss looked to be sharing her doubts. "Forgive me if I have a hard time believing you." He cocked his head to the side mockingly. "As things stand, I think I would ask you to leave. If you do meet Huraker-san, please give her my most heartfelt apologies for interrupting her work."

"But… Xelloss-sama…" one of the demons began, but the priest's gaze made it fall silent.

"If you wish for a less peaceful solution, that can also be arranged," he offered in a dark tone.

No more convincing was needed for the demon squad – they all blinked out from the physical world within seconds. The dragon landed carefully on the other side of the inn's remains, and reached forward to touch its wounded partner.

"Your masters _will_ hear of this, Beast Priest," it growled, before both dragons departed with a flash of holy power.

Seeing that all of their enemies had gone, Xelloss descended back to the ground; Lina ran up to him right away.

"Thanks, Xel," she said, her voice still grim despite her words. With the attackers' departure, the flames disappeared as abruptly as they came, and the sudden quiet around them felt very disconcerting after the previous chaotic clamor. The only clearly identifiable sounds were Nilian's miserable sobs; the young woman could barely stand while she hugged Jane's neck, her face buried into her shoulder.

"Lina-san, I must return to my Mistress quickly," the priest spoke, tearing Lina's eyes away from the scene. "It seems that I have been away far too long, and I've already overstepped my boundaries here." He glanced towards the smoking ruins. "I cannot tell what exactly is unfolding before our eyes, but I am certain that she has some answers. It shouldn't take long."

The sorceress gave a tired nod, although Xelloss did not wait for her consent; his form disappeared from view immediately. It took a few seconds for her to register that she was now simply staring off into empty space; slapping her cheeks angrily, Lina marched to the other two women.

"Listen here, Jane…" she began, but the girl's expression remained blank; she showed no signs of paying attention to her. "Jane!" she roared.

Her pupil's head finally snapped up. "Y-Yes, Miss L-Lina …?"

"Take Nilian and go as fast as you can along the road through the Miasma Forest," the sorceress ordered. "You will eventually reach Sairaag; that place will me be much safer for the both of you." She leaned closer. "I'm trusting you with this, so don't mess up – now go!"

It took the girl a few seconds to digest this information, and afterwards she could not give more than a barely noticeable dip of her chin in reply. Mechanically putting one foot after the other, she departed to the east, half-carrying half-dragging Nilian along with her.

Once they disappeared behind the mass of trees, Lina chanted the Ray Wing spell under her breath and took to the skies. She flew straight up for a long while, ascending to the greatest possible height the spell allowed her to. Once she felt the wind barrier waver dangerously under the strain, she stopped and switched to Levitation. Her eyes searched over the horizon, clinging to the hope that her terrifying presentiment would turn out to be false.

From such a height, the ground under the darkening sky resembled a map; she could see the roads winding along the plain towards towns, villages and other settlements – but to the west, those settlements were nowhere to be seen. Only columns of smoke rose from the spot where the sorceress thought they were supposed to be; as far as her eyes could see, not a single hamlet was left standing.

Lina's heart sank as she realized that each and every settlement has been systematically destroyed – and they have just met with the precursor of the army responsible.

_What did Officius say__…? Deal with the 'root of the problem'? Is this the single goal that unites gods and demons? To destroy us?_

As she slowly descended towards the ground, Lina's mind reeled with thoughts and questions. The betrayal of the shinzoku, the supposed protectors and benefactors of the human race, felt less shocking than it should have; she knew from experience that for the gods, the safety of the world as a whole came first and everything else second. Many years ago, Milgazia explicitly warned her of their fear of a new War of the Monster's Fall breaking out, and of their willingness to do anything necessary to prevent it.

As for the mazoku however, the sorceress was fresh out of ideas. While the creatures of chaos naturally could not care less about a nation or two disappearing off the face of the world, mankind's complete extinction was a serious threat to their own long-term survival as well: Ruby Eye's sealed fragments held their greatest chance for victory over the forces of creation, and without humans, the possibility of resurrecting their master would be lost forever. If their alliance with the gods did not sound improbable enough, their joint goal certainly did.

_But the biggest question is,_Lina thought, casting one last glance towards the smoking wrecks in the distance, _if everyone did put aside their differences just to take us down… how are we supposed to fight back?

* * *

_

Jane could not keep her eyes on the road; every other moment, she looked nervously to the side, staring at the surrounding trees in alarm. Everyone knew of this trait of the Miasma Forest: it muffled all natural sounds within, there were no birds or crickets to be heard; the place had an overall unnerving presence which washed over everything else. Common knowledge or not, though, the girl had to realize that knowing something and experiencing it were often two very different things.

"Mrs. Henton, I'm sorry but please attempt to walk on your own now," she grunted from the effort, "you are, uh, a bit heavy for me."

The young woman felt like a dead weight. She was leaning against Jane's shoulder, barely bothering to even walk; at times it looked as if she had to be physically dragged along.

"Please, Nilian, pull yourself together," the girl pleaded, trying to come up with something encouraging to say. "I'm sure, ahm… I'm sure Miss Lina will find a way to make things right… somehow…"

"Well now, what do we have here?"

Now Jane truly regretted not paying attention to the road; two fearsome creatures stood only mere yards ahead. The left one was of short stature; it crouched on the ground in the same posture as an ape, but its skin was without fur and its face had disproportionally large fangs and glowing, red eyes. The other one was similar to human skeleton, but with four arms instead of two, its bones covered by some bright yellow slime.

"It's a surprise to still see living humans in these parts," the ape-like monster spoke to the other one. "What should we do with them?"

"We've been only sent to scout the city, true," the living skeleton replied with malevolent cheer, "but that shouldn't keep us from having a bit of fun…"

Jane's legs started to tremble. "Mazoku…" she whispered. "No, I can't fight those like this…"

She was almost thrown off balance as Nilian abruptly let her go and stood on her own with her gaze on the ground.

"Mazoku…?" she slowly repeated Jane's words. "Mazoku_?_" Then her head snapped up, and with insane fury in her eyes she began to run towards the pair of monsters. "You goddamn murderers!" she shrieked. "I'll kill you! I'm going to kill you all!"

"Wait… don't!" Jane could only watch as the woman sprinted towards her assured doom. When she almost reached the demons, however, the monsters' sadistic expressions morphed into one of fear.

"The… the nameless abomination!" the skeleton stuttered, one of its hands pointing towards the forest. "Run! Run before it sees us!"

Nilian's outstretched fist only punched the air. Disoriented, she kept running forward. "Don't flee, you cowards!" she screamed at the empty road, her voice breaking. "You can't… you can't run away from me!"

Jane looked dumbfounded at the young woman's departing form. "What just happened?" she mumbled. With no one to answer, she took an uncertain step forward, and then she saw it: someone still stood on the road in front of her.

Only small fluctuations in the air revealed its indistinct, roughly humanoid outlines, wavering constantly; while Jane saw next to nothing about the creature, she got the impression that it was exhausted, barely clinging to life.

"At last, I caught up to you…" the being's voice was like the howling of the wind, without tone or personality. "Before I truly die… I will have my revenge… Lina Inverse."

If her previous troubles were not enough, this certainly made Jane Smith forever curse the moment when she foolishly got herself involved with that name.

* * *

Leaving the ruins of the Black Dragon Inn behind, Lina strode hastily towards the road which led to Sairaag. There was no reason to tarry any longer; from what she saw, everything that stood between the rebuilt City of Magic and the force of dragons and mazoku was already beyond help. Xelloss' intervention might have halted their advancement temporarily, but she was sure that they would be back, probably with plenty of reinforcements – even driving the two dragons and the squad of demons away by herself would have been a very risky endeavor, and the sorceress had no intention of facing even more of them alone.

She should catch up with Jane on the way, she thought, and then go straight to the Sorcerers' Guild headquarters. Some of the most powerful living mages were working there, and many of them had her to thank for getting the opportunity to attain such a position in the first place – with their help, she might just be able to…

…_t__o do what? _Lina made a face as she approached the edge of the Miasma Forest. _The most we could manage is to buy some time for the residents of the city to clear out… but after that?_

In that moment, the sorceress could not find an answer to her question. She knew one thing, however: they needed a plan, and they had to come up with it quickly.

_Maybe Xelloss will think of something__… after all, he's supposed to be the great chess master around here. It's not fair that I always have to be the one to come up with the world-saving ideas…_

"Greetings, Lina-san."

The sorceress whirled around just in time to see the mazoku priest blinking into existence only a few steps behind her. "Don't startle me like that!" While she was generally used to his random appearances and disappearances, the current situation set Lina's nerves too much on the edge not to be annoyed by them. "Speak up already, what's the damage?"

Xelloss absent-mindedly began inspecting the gem on top of his staff.

"Well, one could say that I had the most humorous, and at the same time, the most humiliating discussion with Zellas-sama yet." His mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I certainly had problems with laughing."

Lina's brows furrowed even deeper; an unpleasant feeling crept up her spine, as if part of her mind was shouting something at her, something obvious which she should have noticed a long time ago.

The mazoku's gaze finally rested on her. "Basically, Lina-san, everything we heard today is true. The shinzoku and mazoku of the world have made a temporary truce, which will last until they have jointly purged all humans from existence – with you being right on top of the list. And in accordance with this agreement…"

With a broad movement, Xelloss raised his staff to point it at the sorceress. Lina's eyes widened in realization – she could not understand how she was able to forget this. Even for a minute.

"… I have been ordered to personally see to your demise."

A long streak of lighting crossed the overcast, fully black sky above. The storm was upon them.

_To be continued…_

-o-

**Author's notes:**

Well, I guess I owe an apology to you all. Yes, the "Lina is a Ruby Eye shard?" plot device is incredibly old and lame. I am using it mostly as way to stay close to canon: If I remember well, there is a part in the second novel arc where Milgazia does warn Lina of the fact that the gods may be willing to eradicate humanity in order to keep a shard from awakening. I can promise one thing: The fic will not turn into a "is she or isn't she"-angst fest from now on, because the story is not about that. First and foremost, this is a story about Xelloss and Lina - and OK, maybe about an enjoyable plot**, **too. ;P

As usual, a huge thanks goes to _Kaeru Shisho_, my still-awesome beta reader. :) I also thank everyone who reviewed or just read the story - it is your encouragement that allows me to go forward, and I cannot even begin to say how much I appreaciate it.

And some mind-blowing news: The fic now has illustrations! :D Thanks to the brilliant Apple Cake from DeviantArt, chapters one and two now have their own full-color illustrations which are just indescribably awesome for me to look at - I hope you will also find them fun. Check out her other works while you're there too! Her website can be found at "apple-cake" DOT deviantart DOT com".

May we meet again soon. :)


	8. The Darkest Hour, part 1

**A quick note before you begin: **As many of you who post stories on the site are aware, recently the document editor is stripping all double punctuation marks from the text. My experience showed that I do need these as writing tools, so I am using the following replacements in the story: The interrobang ("‽") in place of the question mark and exclamation mark pair, and the double exclamation mark symbol ("‼") in place of the usual two exclamation marks. Hopefully, your browser will render them correctly, but if they are not visible or are very confusing, let me know.

UPDATE: There are reports that the interrobang is not displayed well on Chrome, which causes additional formatting glitches as well. Other browsers seem to work fine.

Also, this is probably the darkest chapter of the story. I would only ask that you hold out until the end; I've done my best to make it worthwhile. : )

-o-

**Chapter 5. The Darkest Hour – Part 1.**

_It is a three day long journey to the south along the Sailinth River, on the road leading through the city of Wanadia, the abandoned village of Morfir and the merchant town of Adigol, to reach the foreboding Dark Mountain. When the great knight Arteus arrived there centuries ago, it took him a year of wandering among the mountain's tall cliffs and deadly chasms to finally find the place he was told to seek out: the Cliff of Remembrance. The beauty of the view he beheld was beyond imagination: the Sailinth River sparkled with the silver light of the full moon as it ran among the trees of the forest below in a majestic pace, and nowhere else did he find the light of the stars to be so pure, shining brightly as if diamond dust covered the sky. _

_In this place of tranquility and solace the brave knight silently prayed, asking the gods to give his tormented soul redemption at long last. And behold, the heavens opened, and the spirit of his lost and only love, Miriam, descended from the sky to bring him the news he craved: that his seemingly never-ending quest, which sent him to the end of the world and back, had finally come to an end. The morning sun found Arteus dead on the cliff, sleeping the peaceful, eternal sleep that evaded him for so long. To this day, people from all around the world come to face the steeps of the Dark Mountain, risking their lives for the hope that, on a similar moonlit night, they may take a glance at the face of their lost love one more time._

_So went the legend of the Cliff of Remembrance. It was among the sappiest and most unfounded legends Lina had heard in the one hundred and four years of her life._

_Considering this, she had no reasonable explanation about what she was doing on the Dark Mountain during the night of the full moon – unreasonable explanations on the other hand were plenty, and also true. Contrary to the legend, the cliff itself was actually very easy to find; there was only a single one which faced the valley through which the Sailinth River ran. She could have flown up there without effort, but, because of similarly unreasonable motives, she climbed the mountain through the day without using a single spell. And then, finally arriving to her destination, the midnight hour found Lina Inverse, one of the greatest mages that ever lived, kneeling in the dust of the Cliff of Remembrance, and quietly letting her tears stream down her face without end._

_She could not tell how much time had passed. In general, her sense of time itself muddled during her aimless wanderings; days, weeks, months melting together, the only indicator that the world did in fact go forward being the passage of seasons. Thus, while she could not remember the point in time when it occurred, the knowledge slowly crept into her mind that she was no longer alone._

_Lina only had to raise her head the smallest bit to notice the brown leather boots and the tip of a wooden staff in front of her, at the very edge of the cliff. That was all she needed to recognize the newcomer, even though she had not seen him for years, decades even. Despite this, however, she did not bother to greet him or otherwise acknowledge his presence._

_An immeasurable amount of time passed once more, before her visitor opened his mouth to speak._

_"It has been a truly long while, Lina-san." His voice was low and soft, as if he did not want to disturb the silence looming over them more than it was absolutely necessary._

_There was no point to ignoring him any longer; this realization set Lina's mouth into a frown. "What do you want, Xelloss?" she rasped, not raising her head still. "If you just came to enjoy others' misery, then go find yourself another buffet table and leave me the hell alone."_

_Part of her knew of course that he could not be driven away by such common insults; this belief was vindicated by the decidedly cheerful tone he chose for his reply._

_"Don't worry, I am merely here to investigate," he said. The sorceress saw his boots moving as he took a step towards her. "The craziest rumors began to surface recently, and I had to find out how much truth there actually was in them. I'm sure you've heard about them as well: They say that the legendary sorceress Lina Inverse died a tragic death, and now only her restless ghost roams the land, haunting towns and villages across the peninsula in the form of a faded, bitter replica of her former self." Lina could feel his gaze upon her; the feeling was far from pleasant. "People can come up with the most absurd of things, don't they?"_

_The sorceress said nothing; only the distant howl of a wolf echoed through the valley below them._

_"Still, absurd or not, you do look to be severely under the weather, Lina-san. It's an unusual sight to see," Xelloss continued, recognizing her refusal to respond. "Is there some specific reason for your sullen mood perhaps, which I'm not aware of?"_

_The question sparked something in her: small flames of anger sprang to life upon the pool of displeasure and despair._

_"Don't play dumb," she growled. "If you're horribly untalented at something, this is it."_

_"There is a difference between playing dumb and giving you a chance to explain," he spoke with unshakeable mirth. "I know that a few things have happened, but how long was that? Five years, maybe? That's quite a bit of time, especially on your scale; more than enough to move on, don't you think?"_

_"Go away, Xelloss," Lina muttered darkly._

_"Or are you trying to tell me that you, the human who 'must live each moment to the fullest', is still chained to that single moment after so long?" He gave a soft chuckle. "It would seem that you have trouble living up to your own philosophy, Lina-san. Or at least, living that moment of loss out for such a long time has made you strangely unaware of all the other moments speeding by you."_

_Two gloved hands slammed against the rocky ground. "Get out of here, Xelloss," Lina seethed, staring down at her trembling arms. "Go or I swear you are going to regret it."_

_"My, you are so quick to issue threats," Xelloss' voice mocked her with unvarnished pleasure. "Your confidence was always enviable, but unfortunately I don't think you could hit me with absolutely anything in the sorry state you are in now—"_

_There was nothing sudden, loud or unusual to interrupt his speech; what made Xelloss silent was a tiny piece of rock which bounced off his left foot with a barely audible noise._

_"I think I've just hit you." In a different time and place, Lina's voice might have been gleeful; now it was only bitter and angry. "I could've hit you with anything I damn pleased, but I didn't, and you know why? Because it doesn't matter." For the first time, she raised her head to look defiantly into his face. His eyes half-open, the priest gazed back at her looking slightly taken aback. "All your usual shenanigans, your little quips and wordplays – they're pointless now, Xelloss, because I'm done with both you and your games. I'm done with them _so much_ you can't even imagine. So if you have a problem, then either attack me, or crawl back to your hidey-hole and _rot_." _

_The tension rose in the air as even the usual night noises grew dim around them. The corner of Xelloss' mouth twitched in anger; for a moment, Lina honestly thought that he would attack her then and there. But the moment went by, and the priest's expression gradually morphed back into his usual smile._

_"Very well, Lina-san. I shall take my leave," he said, walking by her, away from the edge of the cliff; Lina's gaze did not follow. "I have the answer I came for, after all: apparently, the sorceress of legend truly _is_ dead." His footsteps halted. "You know what? It wasn't ever that much of an issue, but this development might still warrant a little celebration! But what should I exactly do, hmm… oh, I got it!"_

_There was something in his joyful voice that made Lina shudder. She turned her head back to look at him again; the priest pointed his staff towards the Sailinth River, his gesture like that of a child who wants to explain his newest plan of mischief to his friend. _

_"See that village over there? It's hard to notice because of the forest, but you can still spot some of the roofs at least. I think…" He paused with a grin. "Yes, this will be fun. I think I'll go down there, and slaughter every single man, woman and child that I find - not too quickly, as that would be squandering of course. I already called some lesser demons to surround the village; it will be just like in the good old times during the war!" He turned around and began to casually stroll down the path. "Oh, by the way, Lina-san," he called, glancing back just enough to meet the sorceress' horrified gaze, "if you can fit it into your schedule, you could cry a few tears for the villagers as well. You are getting really good at that, from what I've seen."_

_With those words, he disappeared from the cliff._

_Once again alone, Lina felt all muscles in her body tighten, her heartbeat drumming in her ears, while her fingers dug into the rocky soil with such intensity that her nails snapped and bled._

* * *

Under the lightning-laced black sky, in the midst of cutting wind carrying a mixture of dust and ash, two people stood face to face. They knew each other, but often failed to truly understand. They were close, but still far apart. They were allies, but only as much as they were enemies – especially now.

Lina felt a wave of calmness washing over her, the worries from mere minutes ago showed into the back of her head. The threat to the world, the fate of humanity, the unlikely alliance of the gods and the demons – each of these became irrelevant for the present moment, as though a giant 'if' had been put before them all.

She can think about those later, _if_ she manages to live that long.

Life or death, here and now – the thought was almost comfortable with its familiarity. In fact, she felt that there was something familiar about the whole situation, familiar and somehow strangely fitting as well.

"So it has finally come to this, hasn't it?" She smiled wryly at the person in front of her.

"Realistically speaking, it was inevitable, don't you think?" Xelloss replied with a matching expression. "I must say that this is nonetheless quite far from how I imagined it to happen, but you have to take what you get I suppose."

"You sure aren't making it any better, you know." The sorceress shrugged, throwing her hands up into the air. "I mean, after all we've been through, you could've at least said something dramatic like 'with a heavy heart, I must inform you that one of us will die', or 'we regrettably have to fight each other to the end on the field of battle'. Not just pop in and go 'hey Lina, guess what, they told me to kill you'. That's just lame."

The priest's open eyes turned contemplative.

"Hmm, perhaps you're right. Things have been moving too fast, and I forgot to think of a proper entrance," he said thoughtfully, and lowered the staff he kept pointed at her. "Do you want me to try again?" He closed his left eye to give the impression of a wink. "If you pretend I haven't arrived yet, I can suddenly appear to deliver a speech with sufficient pathos."

Lina shook her head. "Won't work, sorry," she quipped. "The magic of the moment is gone."

"That's too bad, but at least we don't overcomplicate matters this way," the priest commented. "Besides, I can't very well say that I have anything close to a 'heavy heart'. If I would have to describe my emotions right now, I'd say they are something bordering on excitement."

"You don't get to fight Lina Inverse every day, huh?" The sorceress raised a taunting eyebrow.

His smile widened. "Even better. You don't get to _destroy_ Lina Inverse every day."

Her bright façade fell, and Lina regarded the mazoku with a hard gaze.

"So you feel giddy that you can finally kill me and that's it?" She exhaled irritably. "Look Xelloss, I don't give a damn if you consider yourself to be the poster child for backstabbing demons everywhere; I know you're smarter than this! You must see that the plan your higher-ups agreed to puts your own race in just as much danger! If you want to say that you never cared whether I lived or died, fine; we had a few good years at least, and my saner side never had that many illusions about you anyway. But if you want to tell me that you don't care about even your own species, then you're not only an idiot, but a liar!"

"Lina-san, you know very well that I do not lie." The priest's voice was patient like that of a teacher, who gently corrects a beginner's glaring mistakes. "Naturally, I have voiced my reservations to my Mistress. She heard them and chose to ignore them – and yes, as far as I am concerned, that's it. I am but a humble middle manager; I can only do so much. So why should I worry about problems I cannot influence? It is better to view the positive aspects of such a situation, don't you agree?"

The sorceress closed her eyes with a look of disgust. "What do you expect me to say to that?"

Xelloss' smile actually became genuinely warm and friendly, but that felt more unsettling to her than anything that came before. "Nothing special, just do what you always do. Make another of your usual witty comebacks, ready yourself and fight with everything you have. You know the stakes involved; if anyone can possibly keep your race from extinction, it is you. So make this battle count, Lina-san - there would be little point to it if you didn't."

The sorceress stared at him for several moments, her eyes narrowing, and then curtly shook her head. "I'm no longer in the mood for witty comebacks," she murmured as she took a few steps back, and lowered her stance to prepare for an incoming attack. "I guess we no longer owe each other anything. If this is what you really want, Xelloss… then let's get on with it."

"With pleasure." The mazoku nodded cheerfully and raised his free hand up to his shoulder line, arm outstretched. Two cones of darkness appeared to his left and right, roughly the size of a human head, their ends pointed at the sorceress. "Let us begin with a little warm-up first."

He let his hand fall down – in the same moment, the two black cones sped towards Lina with lightning speed.

* * *

First, she found out that her teacher and idol hated her guts. Then she had to realize that her affinity to real mortal magic was very close to zero. After this, she was nearly crushed by a swarm of giant stones, and then nearly burned to crisp by attacking dragons and mazoku. And if all of this were not enough, the specter which haunted her for months and also got close to killing her chose this accursed moment to come back, looking for revenge.

Jane Smith was having a really bad day.

"W-What are you doing here?" she stuttered while she tried to back away from the Nameless One's nigh invisible ghostly figure. "I thought Miss Lina succeeded in killing you last time… or I hoped, at least." She looked towards the road behind her back and the trees of the Miasma Forest on the side, but neither seemed to be very promising escape routes – if trying to run away from a being that could teleport even made sense in the first place.

"_I'm not dead yet…_" The reply came as an angered whisper. "_I plan to make you join me in oblivion first, Lina Inverse._"

"Argh, but I'm _not_ Lina Inverse!" Jane tore into her hair in frustration. "It was you who pushed me into pretending to be her to start with! So why can't you just leave me alone‽"

"_You cannot… fool me…_" The being sounded exhausted, but did not let the girl put more than a few feet of distance between them. "_I'm fading… Ever since we met again, I can no longer absorb others… Their souls give me no respite. But it does not matter… as long as I can get you‼_"

The spirit's wavering form lunged towards Jane. Without time or courage to jump out of the way, the girl threw up her hands defensively in front of her face and clenched her eyes shut.

Even though she was sure the being reached her, she did not feel any kind of impact, just a cold sensation spreading through her limbs. She hesitantly opened her eyes, and gazed into a swirling mass of bleached-out colors all around.

Jane was no stranger to this place; in the swamp at Man's End, she had visited this realm of memories before. The Nameless One tormented its victims here by facing them with their strongest fears and making them re-live the worst moments of their lives over and over, until their mind collapsed under the strain – in which moment it claimed their personality and experiences as its own.

To her dismay, it was also evident to Jane what she would be shown first.

"Not the Starlight Princess costume! Please, anything but the Starlight Princess!" she pleaded. "It was just an idea! I was only fifteen and I didn't know how stupid I'd look after pouring that bucket of silver paint on my head! It was a simple accident… I moved on since and everything! So please… _don't_ show it to me again!"

She caught a glimpse of silver within the colorful maelstrom and instantly cried out in fear – but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. No memories came forth to haunt her.

"_Where are you‽_" She heard the Nameless One's confused voice from the distance. "_You can't hide from me within your mind forever! Show yourself, Lina Inverse!_"

"Phew, that was close. I thought it was all over for a second."

Jane nodded in agreement, letting out a relieved breath – before she realized that she was not the one who said that. Another woman stood next to her, gazing into the same swirling chaos. She was of medium height and looked to be a good ten years older than her. The bangs of her long, dark hair was cut into an even line in front in a style not unlike Xelloss'; lowering her head even a bit made it fall into her face and partially cover her eyes. She wore a white and purple waitress attire; Jane noticed that its coloring and design dated back to roughly a century ago.

"Oh, h-hi!… Who are you?" the fazed girl asked. "You're not something similar to that ghostly demon, right? I'm j-just asking because as long as you're not another ghost, you and I can be… er, best friends forever!… Uh, I mean I'm sure we can get along and cooperate to find a way out of this mess… right?"

The stranger faced her with a lopsided smile.

"Why? You got a problem with ghosts? Preconceptions like that aren't smart," she said, folding her arms in front of her chest – a common gesture, but for some reason the waitress made it look unusually imposing. "Anyway, you're out of luck, 'cause I guess I'm a ghost too." She took a step forward to stare into Jane's face. "Boo."

"Eeek‼" The girl let out a high-pitched scream.

Yes, it certainly was not her day.

* * *

_Even without a path to follow, it was impossible to get lost in the forest. Almost from the very foot of the Dark Mountain, the intense, dancing blue light shone eerily through the mass of trees and led the way, growing ever brighter._

_The village was already burning; azure-colored flames ate away the roofs and sprang forth from the doors and windows. There were no yells or screams to be heard or people on the streets to be seen, alive or dead; only two dozen deformed, repulsive creatures watched the destruction from the edge of the forest, encircling the small town as they were ordered to do._

_One of the lesser demons noticed something. Its head turned towards the trees – a moment later, there was nothing but ash left in its place. One of its closest fellows saw what happened, and managed to cry out just before meeting the same fate; the others banded together, attacking in concert with a swarm of magical projectiles to take down the intruder._

_Only a couple of seconds passed, and all of them were dead._

_"Xelloss! Where are you?" Lina yelled, running into the burning village. "Come out and face me, you coward!" She tried casting a fire extinguishing spell at one of the buildings, but the blue flames, clearly fuelled by magic, raged on undeterred. "Where are all the people?" she whispered. "They should be trying to put out the fire… or at least run to safety, even if it meant fighting the demon guards…"_

_The flames from an open door swirled wildly, and Xelloss stepped forth from inside, the azure tongues obediently moving out of his way. He glanced at the sorceress, recognition showing on his face like the two of them had just met by complete accident._

_"Ah, Lina-san. What a pleasant surprise," he said with a friendly smile. "Look what I have found." He grasped something in his free hand and now held it forward for her to see: it was a small, battered cotton bunny doll, likely a young peasant child's plaything. The two dark studs serving as its eyes regarded Lina with apparent sadness – or at least so they seemed to the sorceress, who gazed at the doll with the same horror as if she saw a dead body._

_"The villagers, Xelloss," she drawled. "What have you done to them‽"_

_The doll in the priest's hand caught fire, the blue flames devouring it with ruthless speed. Xelloss brought his palm in front of his face, studying the smoking remains pensively._

_"Such a shame," he muttered. "They all burn much too easily."_

_Something blew up inside the house behind the mazoku, the entrance door bursting wide open, its rusty hinges producing a sharp noise like a painful, elongated scream. Anguish flashed over Lina's face; memories flared up within her of a playful smile, of an annoying but still almost expected finger wag, of secrets which were sometimes even fun, of temporary moments of weakness when she considered the trickster behind these secrets a friend – all of these images were likewise burned away by the azure flames of reality which now surrounded her. _

_Then her anguish became anger._

_"You… _sick_… monster…!" she seethed._

_Xelloss gave a simple shrug as he brushed the ashes off his hand. "Why thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."_

_Anger grew into deadly, blazing fury. _

_"Take _this_ as a compliment‼" she roared, sprinting towards the priest. "ASTRAL BREAK!"_

_After years of aimlessness and grim solitude, Lina finally had a goal. It filled all corners of her mind, shutting out everything else in order to give place to her new, overwhelming desire: _

_To see Beast Priest Xelloss die at her hands, even if that was to be the last thing she ever did._

* * *

_He's insanely fast!_

Not daring to even try to block his attack, Lina jumped to the side just in the nick of time. Two black cones zipped by, one making a sizable dent into her flowing cape before both projectiles impacted the ground a yard later, sending a shower of gravel her way. Even through her clothing, the sharp bits of stone hurt, but she did not have the luxury to pay attention to the pain; Xelloss already launched another attack at her from his extended staff, the grayish lightning forcing her to dodge backwards to gain some space. This second attack did not explode when it hit the ground, but disappeared into it instead.

_That's odd,_ Lina thought, glancing towards the mazoku. Xelloss smirked at her, and pointed with his free hand towards the earth below her feet. The sorceress made another desperate lunge; knowing she was likely too late, she flicked her hand mid-jump to cast a smaller barrier of wind below her as a safety measure.

It was not nearly enough. A geyser of darkness erupted from the ground, shattering her spell effortlessly; the sorceress escaped oblivion only by already being at its edge when it appeared, the force of the attack flinging her twenty feet through the air. She grunted as she managed to land on all fours. Her whole body hurt like it was punctured by a thousand needles, while her head was spinning wildly; black magic energy fuelled the priest's attacks and made every hit an assault both on the flesh and the soul.

Springing up, Lina broke into a run towards the trees of the Miasma Forest to gain some well needed cover – she knew it was impossible to keep up with the mazoku's attacks for long. Several explosions boomed close behind while she violently shook her head, trying to clear the mist plaguing her mind.

_I can't let my concentration slip now! I just need a few more…_

Her gaze jumped back to the forest – but it was no longer there. The trees, the bushes and everything else had ceased to exist for a good half mile in all directions, only blackened patches of scorched earth hinted at their former place. There was not even a sound accompanying the destruction; all was simply gone in little more than a blink.

"Are you missing something, Lina-san?" Xelloss voice sounded from behind. The sorceress looked back just in time to notice a wave of energy digging up the earth as it travelled through the ground towards exactly where she was headed. With a sneer, she skidded to a halt and dashed in the opposite direction – three more waves were quick to follow her move.

"It is kind of disappointing like this," the mazoku called, sending another ash-colored arc of electricity her way for good measure. Ever since the fight started, he had not moved an inch from where he was standing and was now impatiently tapping his foot. "You must be aware that I could shoot these beams twice as quickly if I wanted to. Shouldn't you be trying to launch some kind of an offensive before that happened? Simply dodging is useless by itself, after all."

Lina frowned as she jumped over the three incoming ground-level threats, twisting her body in the air to evade the burst of lightning.

"You're sure right about that one," she muttered, changing directions once more and running towards the priest. A foreboding wall of darkness rose from the ground behind her, expanding quickly; the gray electric arc caused a cloud three times the size of the previous one to erupt from below. The sorceress quickened her already frantic pace and extended a hand towards her opponent. "ELMEKIA FLAME!"

An aura of blue-white radiance appeared around Xelloss for a second, its astral energies sizzling threateningly in the air – then he made a small, almost bored flick with his staff and the aura burst apart into tiny splinters of light.

"Is there a punch line to this joke that I have missed?" the mazoku said with a chuckle of amusement.

Ignoring the cloud of nothingness which was now mere inches away from her, Lina flashed him a similarly amused smirk. "There is one all right," she declared, and smashed her palms together. "Watch!"

The shining field of light reappeared around the priest. Looking slightly surprised by the unexpected event, Xelloss' moved his staff to dispel the magic once more, but never got to it: the bluish radiance abruptly doubled in size, as if someone else had cast the same spell on him the second time. His face now ruled by shock and discomfort, the mazoku's form hunched as he fought against the sudden astral strain – before the size of the light aura increased yet again.

The wall of darkness dissipated behind her, and Lina saw the priest's knees bend further as the opposing force kept growing steadily; it looked like a giant invisible hammer was pounding the mazoku into the dirt. Still running at top speed towards him, only a couple of yards stood between her and Xelloss.

_There's the opening—!_

An overwhelming force threw her off her feet and sent her flying backwards. Lina winced as her back hit the ground and raised her hand to shield her face from the massive amount of dust the wind sent her way from the priest's direction.

"I see. So you _were _casting spells all this time," she heard Xelloss say. As the dust settled somewhat, she saw him standing with his arms outstretched, a scintillating red force-field surrounding his body in the form of a half-sphere. Aside of a crack running through the jewel on top of his staff, he appeared to be unharmed, pleased even. "You just managed to delay their activation until you amassed enough of them to cause me some trouble. Not bad at all, it actually did hurt a little." He shrugged jovially, letting his hands fall down as the barrier faded away. "I guess I deserve as much for simply standing here, don't I? Now, however, I think we can call an end to the warm-up exercises."

Lina just managed to scramble to her feet, when Xelloss appeared exactly in front of her. She instinctively jumped backwards.

"You truly think you can evade me on the ground, Lina-san?" The priest raised an eyebrow, and his staff lashed out with a lax, uncoordinated move of his hand. "Think again."

The wooden weapon merely grazed the sorceress' right ankle in mid-jump.

"Gyaaah‼" Lina cried out, hit by excruciating pain. She could not see what happened to her leg, but she was sure that she could no longer land on it safely. Managing to summon a wind barrier around her in a split second, she rose well into the air, away from the mazoku.

Xelloss looked after her with a smile of satisfaction. "Now that's better."

He then shot into the air as well in pursuit.

* * *

In the lands within the former mazoku barrier, psychology was still very far from being a developed science. A few old sages worked with its concepts of the mind, but there were still countless untouched areas to cover. Regardless, some of them could probably say a couple of things about people's reactions to different levels of shock and stress: the phase of nervousness and insecurity, the phase of attacking everything that moves nearby with a giant axe, and somewhere in between, a phase that involves doubting the very existence of the surrounding reality.

Within the Nameless One's colorful dreamscape, Jane was apparently going through this latter phase at that moment.

"All right, that's _it_!" she yelled into the sky – or so she would have done, if there was any sky above them instead of rainbow-colored chaos. "All of this can't be happening to me! I've never done anything to deserve this! It has to be a fluke!"

"Hey, Jane—" the dark-haired waitress spoke, but her words were flatly ignored.

"I know! I must be dreaming! Yes, everything starting from the Lina Inverse-act must be some horrible nightmare I'm experiencing because I ate too much for dinner at home! This must be it!"

"I'm talking to _you_, death-wish girl…" The other woman tried a more threatening approach, once again entirely in vain.

"Lalla-lalla-la, I can't hear you!" Jane exclaimed in a singsong voice and stopped her ears. "I'm not here and you're just a figment of my imagination! Go away!"

"Fine!" The waitress whirled around and began to walk away with resolute steps. "You can rot here for all eternity if you want, I don't care anymore!"

Something heavy attached itself to her right leg, forcing her to a halt. The waitress turned her head back and saw Jane lying on the ground, holding on to her shoe with both hands.

"Wait, please!" she begged. "You know of an exit from this place? I might be dreaming but I certainly don't know how to wake up… so can you disclose anything about that? Please?… Pretty please?"

The waitress regarded her with a stern look.

"You're pathetic."

"…I know," Jane muttered in a low voice.

"Good, then do something about it. You can't always expect someone to take pity on you and pull you out of trouble. I've done it too many times already." The woman grabbed her by the shoulder and violently pulled her to her feet; her movement betrayed immense strength within her slim figure.

"You talk a lot like Miss Lina," Jane commented, before she fully realized what she just heard. "You mean we've met before? Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am," the waitress declared. "The two of us never met, not in person anyway; I've been dead for well over forty years. We're both in the Nameless' One's realm, where having a body means nothing; the way you see me now is just the form I can identify with the most."

"Did… did the Nameless One catch you too?" Jane asked hesitantly.

"Yes," the woman admitted in a sour voice. "I was a fool, an old fool who got too accustomed to having few to none to equal her in power. This demon offered a challenge which had little to do with raw strength, and I failed to live up to it. Miserably." Bitter emotions ran through her face for an instant, before the waitress forced her expression back to its previous cold indifference. "But I won't waste my life story on you. All you need to know now is that I can help you find your way out of here _if_ you do exactly what I tell you."

"A-And… if I don't?" The girl gabbled the words sheepishly.

"What kind of a question is that‽" the waitress snapped.

"Sorry, it's just that… my track record is not the greatest in doing exactly what people tell me." Jane shrugged with embarrassment. "How are we going to accomplish leaving this place, anyway?"

The cheerful and at the same time disturbing light appeared in the woman's eyes.

"We will give the Nameless One a taste of its own medicine," she said confidently. "We'll kill the demon by making it re-live the only piece of memory it has left: its demise at the hands of a human."

* * *

Lina tried to put as much space between the priest and herself as possible while also inspecting her right leg as she soared through the air. A heavy trickle of blood gushed from the small but deep wound an inch above her foot. She reached down and with a grumble of effort cast Recovery on it for exactly two seconds, just enough to stop the bleeding. She did not have time for anything more; Xelloss' newest attack was already closing in on her.

An enormous red-brown cloud of thick mist rose from the ground; it was too big and approached too fast for her to get out of its way. Still flying higher to gain some time, Lina retrieved a small piece of parchment from her cloak, tore it to shreds and flung it downwards; as the fragments touched the swirling cloud, they dissolved into sparks of green light before disappearing.

The sorceress noticed something, however: not all pieces were destroyed immediately, as some of them fell further into the mist before meeting their fate. As the cloud drew near, she also realized why; despite first impressions, it was not completely homogenous, but consisted of large strands of dense fog surrounding smaller, more tenuous bubbles which were apparently not as deadly. The strands constantly swirled around though, sealing off or destroying cavities in one place while creating new ones in another; it would have required incredible speed, maneuverability, not to mention blind luck to navigate through them.

_In other words, it's nothing less impossible than usual… Not that I have much of a choice, anyway,_ Lina thought as she changed directions and launched herself directly into the cloud. The wind barrier around her proved to be very helpful; it cleared away the thinner mist ahead, assuring a safe journey, at least as long as she stood clear of the darker strands. The sorceress zigzagged through the hazy, constantly changing tunnels, making abrupt, sharp turns at breakneck speed – but her reflexes were of little use when the way suddenly closed in front of her, causing her to speed towards a dark dead end.

_Damn, I was almost through! I guess I need to make my own way out then..._ Lina extended her hand towards the sealed exit. "BOMB DI WIND!"

A mass of elemental energy gathered in her palm, ready to be unleashed – right before her spell fizzled.

_Double damn‼_

Without time for another incantation, Lina made a three hundred and sixty degrees spin within the barrier. Her cloak flapped around her, creating an extra blow of wind which cleared the obstruction somewhat, and then she rammed her way through, out into the open air on the bottom side of the cloud.

The sorceress quickly checked herself over and was relieved to notice that she made it out in one piece. The same could not be said about her left shoulder guard, however: it looked like some giant monster took a bite out of it, leaving sparkling green saliva around the cavity.

"Well done," Xelloss' voice reached her ears along with the sound of clapping. The mazoku sat cross-legged in the air a few yards away, his staff balanced on his legs, and looked to be eagerly applauding her efforts. "You became a true master of Ray Wing over the years, Lina-san; sometimes it is hard to believe this isn't your natural element. Still, I can understand your previous hesitation to take the fight to the air; maintaining this spell requires too much concentration to use more complicated magic in parallel, as the previous example so aptly proved." He took hold of his staff. "Considering this, I do wonder what will happen—" Disappearing from view, his words now sounded alarmingly near behind her. "—if I come closer?"

The wind barrier around the sorceress popped, following her instant mental command. As she flew almost horizontally before, gravity promptly took hold of her and she began to fall – from the corner of her eye she saw the priest's staff whizzing past just over her head. With the Ray Wing's distraction out of the way, however, Lina was now in full control of her powers and ready for a counter-attack.

"DYNAST BRASS!"

"Ugh!" Xelloss staggered back, struck by black magic lightning – the gems on the clasp used to fasten his cloak broke into tiny scarlet pieces. The spell did not keep him at bay for long, but it was enough for the sorceress to re-cast Ray Wing and regain some distance. The whole exchange did not last more than a second and a half.

Lina's haste was not warranted this time; the priest did not continue his offensive, but chose to study his broken clasp instead with a silly grin.

"You look like you're awfully enjoying yourself," the sorceress commented in a dry tone.

"Why, are you not?" Xelloss responded merrily. "After all, isn't this what we've always been doing in the past years? Through the challenges, competitions and verbal battles – both of us constantly tried to gain the upper hand, Lina-san. The only difference is," with a swipe of his staff, the mazoku sent a cone of darkness in her direction, "unlike before, draw is not a possible outcome here." The sorceress made only the smallest possible change in course to evade, suspecting a feint; she was proven right when the priest's voice once again came from behind her back. "Let us try this one more time!"

Knowing that he would already anticipate her previous maneuver, Lina made an abrupt turn up and sideways instead, dispelling her flight spell only after she was well out of the range of Xelloss' downward thrust.

"DOLPH STRASH!" she exclaimed.

Now the priest was also prepared for her counterattack, however. The spear of black magic was swatted away by another swift strike of his weapon; the out-of-control spell spiraled down and left a cart-sized crater in the barren ground. Without delay, the mazoku moved to continue his assault.

Several similar exchanges followed with no change in the outcome. The sorceress began to realize that Xelloss was purposely keeping his speed at the very edge of her human reflexes; he neutralized all her attacks, but otherwise looked to be content with letting the fight drag on. It felt similar to what happened on the ground earlier: he waited for her to either come up with a new tactic, or make the smallest mistake – which would instantly prove to be fatal.

_So he's playing around… and like before, there's no way I can keep up with him forever. Maybe if I…_

As Xelloss' newest strike came directly in front, Lina dodged by flying backwards. She flew much further from him than usual, while extending both hands forward to caution the mazoku against charging right back at her and potentially slamming into a spell. The possibility that he would just teleport behind her still remained, but to her relief, Xelloss raised his staff into a defensive posture, looking determined to repel whatever attack she chose to launch his way.

Little did he know that the attack would not come from the direction of the sorceress, but from above. "ARC BRASS!"

Lina was not sure right away whether her spell succeeded or not; she needed to tweak the incantation and could not dispel Ray Wing beforehand. But as she saw the storm clouds above stir, she instantly knew it worked. Arc Brass was a spell that could create a large-scale lightning storm all by itself, but this time there was no need to summon one; like bickering predators that spot new prey, the humongous storm clouds grew silent momentarily, only to unleash all of their previously uncoordinated fury against a single target.

With an enormous thunderclap seven blinding arcs of electricity struck Xelloss at the same time, and dozens more followed in the next seconds, their onslaught showing no signs of fatigue. As far as Lina could make out amidst the vivid flashes of light, however, the priest floated motionlessly in the air, ignoring the countless surges of lightning burning through his body.

This came as no surprise to her; elemental magic could only damage one's physical form, which for mazoku was nothing but a lifelike illusion created by their power. Her reasons for launching this attack were different – and apparently, Xelloss also realized this quickly enough.

"My, do you wish to blind me?" The sorceress did not know how, but she heard his amused words clearly over the sound of thunder. "Not a bad idea, I'll give you that, but unfortunately…" He raised his staff; five lightning bolts struck the cracked jewel on top immediately, making it flare up with a cold blue light. Then he pointed it at her. "… I can still easily see where you are!"

Countless arcs lashed out from his weapon towards Lina. Only the speed of her flight magic was able to save her again from being caught in the middle of them, but she could not escape unscathed: a smaller 'twig' of lightning branched off from one of the arcs and struck her thigh. Hot white pain flashed through her mind; once it was gone, Lina could no longer feel anything in her lower body.

_He went and used my own spell against me! _the sorceress thought with a frustrated sneer. _But I'm not done with you yet, Xelloss!_

"ELMEKIA LANCE!"

The spear of energy she sent his way was the weakest of all astral attack spells. It had absolutely no chance to hit, and even if it did, it would have dealt next to no damage.

But Lina did not count on either possibility.

"Break!" she declared.

Just before it flew within the mazoku's reach, the lance of light burst apart, filling the air with countless blue astral energy fragments all around him. Even through the electric chaos, through the mist of spiritual power, the sorceress could still see the priest freeze in alarm.

_That's right, pal. _Now_ you're blind on both planes._

Ending her lightning magic with an angry wave of his arm, Xelloss charged out of the astral cloud – and stared right into the dark red haze within Lina's cupped hands.

"DRAGON SLAVE‼"

The ruby beam hit the priest squarely in the chest, its power dragging him to the dirt below before it went off with a gigantic explosion. The sorceress had no intention of stopping here: she moved her right hand back, summoning more vivid red energy into her open palm, and then thrust it forward. "DRAGON SLAVE!" While the second beam headed towards the ground, she moved her left hand back in a similar manner. "DRAGON SLAVE!" Right again. "DRAGON SLAVE!" Left again. "DRAGON SLAVE! …DRAGON SLAVE! …DRAGON SLAVE! …DRAGON SLAAAAAVE‼…"

She could not continue. Her energy reserves were holding up, but the sheer amount of black magic power she channeled through herself without an audible incantation started to make her feel nauseous, and threatened to break the Levitation spell she cast to hover in place. With a palm on her throbbing temple, Lina tried to gaze through the settling dust cloud below. The landscape bore much resemblance to the surface of the Moon; a medium-sized village could fit into the crater-complex her barrage of magic made, with a great sinkhole in its center which the sorceress could not even see the bottom of. After a couple of seconds she saw a figure emerging from its depths.

It took her a moment to recognize Xelloss. The priest's clothing was in shambles with rips and tears everywhere, his sack and cloak entirely gone, his staff burnt, his hair uneven and razed. One thing remained unchanged about him: the unnerving smile on his sooty face.

_Despite appearances, I don't think I hurt him much beyond his ego… But in the end, that might just be enough._

"What's with the battle damage-act?" Despite not feeling well herself, the sorceress managed a provocative yell as she descended closer to the ground to get within earshot. "You could heal your projection with a thought if you wanted to."

Xelloss grinned. "I merely wish to give credit where credit is due," he said while he levitated to the edge of the deep pit and looked over the widespread destruction around them. "My goodness, this was quite a devious trick, Lina-san… And since you went out of your way to come up with such a commendable strategy, I believe it is only fair if I respond in kind." His feet touched the ground near the ledge. "Would you mind a change of scenery?"

The tip of his staff hit the dust, and the earth immediately began to shake violently. A low, ominous sound escaped the sinkhole, like the distant roar of a dragon awoken from its slumber.

Lina immediately cast Ray Wing and withdrew high into the air. _What is he doing‽_

"Do you remember when I said that the ground is a bit unstable here?" the mazoku asked, looking up at her. "I just gave it a little - or, more precisely, a _giant_ - push."

The earthquake gathered ever more strength with numerous cracks appearing in the earth all around, and the craters began to sink into the crust with impossible speed. In seconds, a deep valley came into existence out of nowhere, and then, just as the earthquake began to subside, a huge stream of searing molten rock shot forth from the sinkhole's gaping mouth, spilling red hot death everywhere.

* * *

The human-sized green chicken looked around in the colorful maelstrom, its gaze resting upon the two women. It let out a disapproving cluck.

The waitress repressed her anger with an agonized sigh. "That's not what I told you to visualize."

It took Jane a few hard looks to dismiss the chicken from existence. "Sorry…" she mumbled.

"Keep your thoughts in check! Since the Nameless One is busy looking for someone who isn't really here, you can bend this realm to your liking, but only if you focus your will!" The older woman tugged at her apron irritably. "If you keep fooling around the demon will notice us, and then we'll be in serious trouble. Now concentrate!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Finding their surroundings much too distracting, the girl clenched her eyes shut. "Think-about-the-moment-of-death, think-about-the-moment-of-death, think-about-the-moment-of-death—"

"Jaaaaane!" A horrific yell tore her concentration to shreds. Her eyes sprang open to behold a giant version of Lina with glowing demonic eyes and flaming red hair. "What do you mean Nilian ran off‽" the terrifying vision demanded. "I said take her to Sairaag! Can't you even do such a simple thing right?"

"For Ceiphied's sake, I've told you to think about the Nameless One's death, not yours‼" the waitress joined the yelling chorus.

"But I don't know anything about the circumstances involved! And you're not helping!" With a frantic wave of her hand Jane made the raging sorceress disappear. "If you are aware of what to do, why don't you try it yourself?"

The ghost threw her head back with exasperation. "Do you think I wouldn't have done it already if I could?" She combed the hair away from her eyes with her hand. "I might be free now, but part of what I used to be is still in that thing. It would recognize me right away."

"You're free?" The girl echoed confusedly. "Then how can you still be trapped in here? I remember hearing that the souls of the absorbed people all escape the demon after a period of captivity…"

"Yes, well, most people had nothing to lose when they fled. I have." For the first time, the waitress voice betrayed her real age; it sounded old, bitter and tired. "Like I said, back in the day I used to be very powerful. For forty years I managed to disguise my power from the Nameless One, but if I leave it here now it all had been for naught – and taking it with me to the afterlife isn't an option either. I had no choice but to find someone I can pass it on to safely." Noticing Jane's widening eyes, her tone changed to one of distaste. "Yeah, that person was supposed to be you. I've already regretted that decision more times than I can remember."

The ghost's distaste became surprise, however, when Jane bellowed violently at her in reply. "So it was _you_‼ You're the one responsible for all the insanity that's been happening to me! The way the demon tricked me with those powers! My suffering in the swamp at Man's End! It was all _your _fault!_"_

"Sorry to whack your convenient theory, but no, you've brought it on yourself alone. I was just trying to take advantage of it, that's all." The older woman's voice was as cold as ice. "You're the first person the Nameless One did not follow around to devour, at least not immediately. It was possible that it might simply grow tired of you and leave, in which moment I planned to transfer myself to _your _mind before the mental link that connected the two of you was broken. And ultimately, the opportunity did arrive, although far from how I imagined."

"So y-you… you were in my mind for the p-past several weeks?" the girl stuttered. "I knew it! All those accidents after I lost my powers… those were your fault too!"

"I _saved_ your butt countless times, you pathetic numskull!" the waitress snapped, losing her cool. "If it weren't for me, you would've fallen to your death, got killed by bandits, died of thirst in the desert, sold to slavery or got eaten by hungry trolls… and yeah, almost forgot, squished by an avalanche of giant boulders! Idiot!"

"Oh yeah‽ Well then you're a… a…"

_"An insufferable jerk?"_

"That's right, an insufferableje—" Jane froze. "Who was that…?"

_"Someone who thinks likewise." _The Nameless One's voice came out of nowhere._ "I never thought we would meet again like this… Knight of Ceiphied."_

* * *

_It was madness. _

_The light of the stars faded before the bright flames, the moon fell behind the forest trees, leaving the sky just as black and empty above as the scorched earth below her feet – and during the frenzied chase between, upon and above the village buildings, she often could not tell which was which. Everything was burning, everything was dying, there was no longer left, right, up or down, just the dark figure of the priest which she kept pursuing – or he kept leading her on, who knew. Bursts of red fire from her off-target spells danced around his blue tongues, feeding upon each other, both growing stronger every time they touched, strengthening the inferno without explanation, against all reason._

_The world around her had gone mad, and dragged Lina towards insanity along with it._

_She was in no condition to make plans; her tactics were haphazard, her movements easy to guess, but she did not notice just pressed on, firing one spell after the other. None of them reached Xelloss. The priest virtually swam upon the sea of magical destruction, evading its more threatening waves and undercurrents with awe-inspiring grace and precision; and when he did not feel like doing so, a single swing of his staff wiped out the incoming attack without a trace. He did not strike back. The mocking smile she glimpsed on his face when she got closer from time to time was destructive enough already._

_Each new spell sent another wave of exhaustion through her body, small ones at first, but they grew steadily bigger as her fruitless onslaught continued on and on. The thought of gradually reaching her limit infuriated her even more – which in turn made her attacks even less successful. _

_In her haste, her leg slipped as she landed on the ground, and Lina dropped unceremoniously to the muddy earth. She was so disoriented that she could not even stand up; her head reeled and throbbed, her vision was blurry and a sudden coughing fit left a stain of red on her gloves._

_"L… LEVITATION." She clung to her magic to provide her with a sense of reality. Slowly, the wind currents raised the sorceress to her feet._

_Only now did she notice how close Xelloss had been standing to her; his brash smile assaulted her from well inside the boundaries of personal space._

_"My, if I didn't know better I might have thought that I'm seeing one of the dead trying to prove that she's in fact alive, Lina-san." The roar of the azure flames melded into his voice, strengthening instead of suppressing it. "That's quite pointless not to mention futile, don't you think?"_

_She wanted to fling a spell into his face in retort, but the incantation slipped from her weakening mental grasp. Furious, she grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and struck with it at the priest._

_She saw the blade of her short sword parried away effortlessly by his staff. He slowly shook his head, insincere pity and honest glee plastered over his face._

_"So incredibly sad," he muttered. Lina struck again and again with mindless fury; the mazoku let her advance on him as he kept swatting the blade aside, apparently without even paying attention. "Look at you. Is this what you've been reduced to?" He caught the sword in his gloved hand, gazed deeply into her foggy scarlet eyes, and whispered, "I think Gourry-san would be hopelessly disappointed."_

_Lina's sword-wielding arm began to rattle. The last vestiges of her rational mind and self-control crumbled and disappeared into a raging hell._

_"DON'T... YOU… **DARE** TO GET HIM INTO THIS‼" She felt that her blade inexplicably came free from his grasp, and put all of her anger behind her blow._

_Xelloss let out an inhuman cry of pain. Lina's sword cut through his left arm, severing it; the limb disintegrated into a whiff of smoke before it hit the ground. The momentum still carried her diagonal strike forward to cut both of his legs in half._

_The mazoku's dismembered torso hit the mud, the staff slipping from the cramped right hand; the cuts on his body looked indistinct and hazy, as if his insides were actually filled with dense fog. The sorceress half-fell, half-jumped on him, holding her short sword high with both hands to deliver the final blow. _

_Xelloss looked up, and saw the blade shining brilliant red, the crimson aura lengthening it to almost twice its size. With a rare look of wonder, awe and contentment, he closed his eyes and remained still._

* * *

The waitress looked around the ever-changing landscape, her eyes narrowing. "How did you find us so soon?" she asked curtly.

"_I am still a mazoku,_" the Nameless One replied in a similarly succinct manner. "_I can sense emotions, and those were flying really high a moment ago. I saw through your ruse immediately."_

"So you now know I'm not Lina Inverse, right, Mr. Nameless…?" Jane called uncertainly. "It was all a big misunderstanding, so how about you allow the two of us to go free and—"

"_Silence!_" The demon's voice boomed. "_You too will pay for misleading me! First, however, I will deal with this meddling agent of the gods._"

"That won't be as easy as you think." The waitress pulled out a ridiculously large kitchen knife from under her apron. "I had plenty of time to learn about your methods, fiend. I won't make the same mistakes twice." She glanced at the girl. "Jane, the plan is still the same! Get to it, and I'll keep the Nameless One at bay in the meantime!"

"This is ridiculous!" Jane, regrettably, was not paying attention to her. "What do you mean by 'misleading'‽ I've been trying to tell you I'm not her _all the time_ you—" The gigantic knife embedded itself into the invisible ground at her feet. "Y-Yes ma'am! R-Right away ma'am!"

"She rivals my sister in stupidity," the ghost muttered as her weapon flew back into her hand. "All right, demon. If you want me, then show yourself! Or are you that much of a coward?"

"_Hahahahaha….!_" The Nameless One let out a candid laugh. "_Is this all you 'learned' in the past forty years? You're still missing the point entirely! Why would I fight you when you can just fight yourself and lose?_"

"Oh, I get it." The waitress smirked. "So you _are_ a coward."

"_I am _not!" The demon replied angrily. With a flash of light, another figure appeared in front of the woman – her exact copy in every way, from her clothes to the expression on her face. "_Very well, I'll give you your little fun,_" the copy spoke in the Nameless One's featureless voice. "_All the more fun it'll be for _me_ to see you fail!_"

The two identical women charged at each other and disappeared.

Jane looked down at her pale hands. "Ah, cease this already, girl! I can do it! I know I can!… Err… I think I can…" She extended her arms in front of her. "Memories, right? I just need to dig up memories… the bad ones..." The rainbow colored chaos began to stir. After a few seconds a familiar, distant voice reached her ears.

"Hey, look at Janey-girl's new costume!" Someone laughed. "Is that silver paint?"

She forced herself not to panic. "No, not the embarrassing memories!" she muttered to herself. "The painful… ones…"

Now an old man stepped forth from the chaotic backdrop. He wore a long dark blue robe and a monocle between his graying brows.

"You are a disgrace to this institution, Ms. Smith," he spoke in a rigid, unforgiving voice. "History is one of the most ancient sciences, and has long-established methods for separating the people who shape our future from the ones who play no part in it. The 'adventurers', as you call them, are without doubt of the latter kind; they are like parasites that plunder the land and its people, looking for nothing more than treasure and short-lived fame. If you wish to study _their _history, you might as well listen to the fairy tales the bards fool the common folk with while singing for their supper. There is absolutely no place for that here."

Jane started to back away from the man. She could never argue with her old professor; the mere sight of him froze her thoughts and wiped the arguments clean from her mind.

"I'm… just pathetic… am I…?" she whispered to herself.

"_Then do something about it._" She heard the waitress' voice from behind the aging historian.

"_Jane-san, you are not nearly as dense as you seem at first glance._" Xelloss' voice sounded from the same direction. "_And that is not bad at all._"

Right after, she heard Lina. "_I'm trusting you with this, so don't mess up!_"

The girl came to a halt and took a deep, shaky breath. "…I …I won't." She pointed a finger at the apparition. "You're… You're wrong! You know nothing about them! If you took one second to get off from… from your goddamn pedestal, you'd see that many of these people shape the world just as much as any king or general! You're just being… stupid and ignorant, and I won't stand for this!"

"_I won't stand for this!_" Lina's voice echoed her last words, and the scene before her changed abruptly.

In the same moment the waitress and her copy appeared out of nowhere, looking as if they fell at great speed from an unimaginable height. It was impossible to tell which was which, but one of them slammed into the ground on her back, while the other landed on her opponent's stomach and put the knife to her throat.

"Gotcha."

The waitress lying on the ground chuckled, her voice identifying her as the Nameless One. "_You got me? Don't you understand that you're _within_ me? You're only delaying the inevitable._"

"That suits me just fine," the real waitress spoke with confidence. "Jane, have you found anything yet?"

"I-I think I have… found it…" the girl replied in very weak voice. In front of her, a marginally younger-looking version of Lina hovered in the air, seemingly frozen in mid-jump. She wore purple-yellow clothes, glowing amulets on her neck, belt and wrists, and different shoulder guards as well, but what really caught the eye was the pitch black sword of wild energy that she held in both of her hands, thrusting it forward. The blade of nothingness ended dangerously close to the terrified girl's stomach.

"Yes, that's it!" the ghost exclaimed triumphantly. "I suspected it was this; the Ragna Blade, Lina's trump card – or at least it was until she lost those talismans. Stand aside, Jane!" She grabbed her copy from the ground with one hand and effortlessly lifted it into the air. "I'm going to reintroduce the Nameless One to an old friend!"

Jane lunged to the side in fright, and the waitress hurled the demon's manifestation through the air – impaling it on the black blade. The sword went through the copy's body like it was a piece of cardboard.

Several long seconds passed without movement or sound. Then the Nameless One threw its head back and let loose its craziest laugh to date.

"_So that was your plan to kill me?"_ it hollered. "_If you wanted to see this fraction of memory I had left, you only should've asked!_" The apparition of Lina faded away, leaving the demon standing in a stooped position on the ground; the wound in its chest was clean and empty, like a chipped porcelain doll's. "_If you wish to know, there isn't a single moment that passes without me reliving this memory over and over. You could say that this was what essentially drove me insane! Hahahahaha!_"

"Damn it! I was sure as hell that this would work…!" The waitress' grip tightened on her knife in frustration. "Jane, get out of here, quickly!"

"But… where?" the girl asked frantically. "There's nowhere to go!"

"It doesn't matter, just get away! Remember what the Nameless One said before it attacked you; the demon's on its last breath! If I can buy some more time maybe it'll die on its own, but for that I need you out of my way!" The kitchen knife cut the air, creating a crescent-shaped arc of light that headed towards the spirit – but went through its form like it was made of fog.

"_I tried explaining it to you countless times, now and also forty years ago, but you refuse to listen: fighting will not get you anywhere._" The Nameless One started walking towards her at a slow, relished pace. "_But honestly, what could I expect from someone like you? Someone who flaunted her powers at every chance she got, but at the same time hated them and tried to escape the responsibility that came with them, because she wanted to live an ordinary life? The Knight of Ceiphied, also a part-time waitress. How wonderfully ironic."_

"N-No, I won't fall for that again," the ghost seethed, although her face looked unusually pale. "Jane, why the hell are you still here‽"

"Please, just wait a second!" the girl replied awkwardly. "Before I unearthed that memory, I heard Miss Lina saying something which I don't think belonged there! There's a part we're still missing!"

"We don't have time for that! Go!"

Jane looked intimidated for a moment, but then shook her head resolutely. "No! I want to do this, period!" she yelled, furrowing her brows in concentration.

"Oh great," the waitress murmured as her gaze fell back on the approaching demon, "you chose the worst possible moment to grow a spine."

With a cry, the ghost ran at the Nameless One – but before she could reach her, the form of the younger Lina reappeared between the two of them.

"What‽"

"_What the hell‽_" The demon echoed the waitress' words. "_I… I don't remember any such thing!_"

"_I won't stand for this._" The vision told the Nameless One with indignation in her tone. The former mazoku could not say anything in reply; instead, a youthful, unknown female voice answered from the distance.

"_Hmm…? For what? Are you angry because I deceived you? Or because I destroyed this small village? Or, come on, you surely won't make a righteous rant about how I changed that man into a demon, will you?_"

The young Lina shook her head with a smirk. "_No, not even close. What I can't stand is… how can you be called **Sherra** when you're the general of Dynast Grau**sherra**‽ That's the lamest name choice ever!_"

The waitress' mouth hung open in shock. "You are… you're General Sherra?"

"She is… who?" Jane mumbled.

The copy grabbed its head between its hands and opened its mouth to a silent scream. The swirl of the countless colors hastened, becoming erratic and disorienting, like a body of water which began to boil – and then the plane of memories collapsed into oblivion.

* * *

The western part of the Miasma Forest was demolished beyond recognition. In the middle of the two hundred feet deep, yawning valley brought to existence by Xelloss' might, the stream of lava surged from the sinkhole like a fountain. In minutes, the craters carved into the earth by the myriad of spells were all filled up by molten rock; the scorching heat could be felt from well above the lake's surface.

In the air above the pool of lava, the battle continued on. Like a couple locked in a deadly dance, the two opponents turned and whirled around each other, evading or negating the attacks directed at them, while at the same time seeking an advantageous position to launch their own counter. Dodge, lash back, get away, strike again – this endless rhythm repeated itself over and over.

While both parties looked worse for wear, Lina's magic depended mostly on her will and thus, if not without effort, let her keep her pace despite her injuries, and she saw no real change in the priest's attack patterns either. This latter observation bothered her greatly; Xelloss was admittedly trying to put some new tactic to use, but left the sorceress with hardly any clue concerning the details. So far, the mazoku's display of power looked largely pointless; with her protective clothing, the heat from the magma was of little concern to her unless she actually fell into it.

_ Xelloss knows that perfectly, too. He wouldn't go through with all this if he's just waiting for me to make a wrong move, so why is he—_

She lost track of the priest. Lina could not tell if he teleported or sped beyond her sphere of vision; her concentration broke unexpectedly and she simply missed the moment when it happened. A chill ran down her spine; she knew that Xelloss was already on the attack and that she had no time to find out where it would come from.

"WINDY SHIELD!" Left with no other option, the sorceress dispelled Ray Wing and summoned a stronger spherical barrier of wind around her. Almost immediately, she felt an overwhelming pressure on it from below; her spell collapsed right after, but gave her the hint she needed to twist her body out of the way. The mazoku's soot-covered staff cleaved the air right before her nose.

Lina moved to retaliate, but the Power Words would not leave her mouth. She found herself out of breath.

_What the—? I can't be this exhausted yet! It has to be something else… _She tried taking deep breaths, but the suffocating feeling remained. Then she glanced back to the pool of molten rock below and realized the truth. _Damn, of course! The lava fumes are toxic! _

She immediately changed directions and flew upwards along the valley's steep slope. Xelloss did not chase her, which the sorceress knew was not a good sign, but had no time to worry about it; she wanted to leave the scorching lake behind as quickly as she could. She only needed a couple of seconds to reach the perimeter – but just before she got through, she found herself at the edge of the slope at the valley's opposing end.

_Argh, I should've known! Subspace!_

Using a technique well-known among more powerful mazoku, Xelloss created a closed loop of space known as subspace to cut off her escape. She had little doubt that the loop lasted several miles higher than she could fly.

Now Lina started to understand the priest's plan in full: the valley and the deformed space together formed a kind of a chute, wherein the toxic hot air rose ever higher. She had no choice but to ascend with it or risk suffocation, but that exactly was the trap; the higher she went, the more energy was spent by the Ray Wing spell just to keep her afloat, gradually reducing its speed and maneuverability.

"Hey, well done! An underhanded scheme like this fits you perfectly!" She shot a glare at Xelloss as he caught up to her.

"I'm glad you figured it out." The priest smiled at her in a challenging manner. "Your move, Lina-san."

_Really? Thanks for reminding me, I thought it was coffee break for a second… _The sorceress made a face._ What am I supposed to do…? I don't want to waste my final weapon like this!_

She launched a halfhearted offensive spell at the mazoku, which was torn apart by a dark flash before it even came close to him. Lina flew up to dodge the counterattack and muttered a curse; at such a height above the valley, a slight sluggishness in her flight magic was already noticeable.

The following minute only became worse. The sorceress did not want to gain more altitude if she could help it, which nearly proved fatal when a sudden coughing fit distracted her from an incoming black cone. No matter what she tried, the conditions began to put her entirely on the defensive; in the end she could not even tell whether the Ray Wing barely responded to her commands anymore or the poisonous air itself slowed her reflexes – the truth was likely somewhere between the two. She dodged another attack by a hair, literally, as the priest's staff cut into her grazed locks like the sharpest blade. Lina knew that she had reached her limit.

_I have to use it…!_

Putting her hand on the hilt of her short sword, she whispered an incantation under her breath. When Xelloss' next attack came, the sorceress dispelled Ray Wing and swung her blade at the same time – deflecting his strike with amazing ease.

Surprised, the priest's gaze fell on the weapon; it was bathed in a pulsating scarlet glow, extending well beyond the sword's original length. Sparse droplets of rain fell from the sky; one of them happened to fall on the tip of the red aura and evaporated instantly in a tiny puff of steam.

Lina, on the other hand, had no time to hesitate. Seeing the mazoku's indecision, she struck with her sword again – but without her wind magic she was already in the middle of a fall, while Xelloss instinctively moved away from her, and her blow went very much wide.

_Eh, this is why I didn't want to use it yet! _The glow around her sword faded away as she floated back to the priest's level. _ As long as he can evade me, this incantation is next to useless!_

"Ah, I recognized it at last!" Xelloss snapped his fingers, his face lighting up. "I could not get a good look at your spell a decade ago, but now I'm quite certain… This is Luke-san's Ruby Eye Blade, isn't it, Lina-san?"

_Ugh… So much for the element of surprise, too._

"No point in denying it, yeah." The sorceress shrugged with a frown. "With the talismans gone, I needed a new last-ditch technique; I couldn't find Luke's spell in any tome, but after years of research I managed to reconstruct the Ruby Eye Blade on my own. Not that I used it much – except against you." She pointed at Xelloss with her sword. "Care for another round?"

Something terrifying glinted in the mazoku's opening eyes. "Gladly."

Lina sprang higher into the air while she closed the distance between them; once she was almost entirely above the priest, she released her grasp over the wind currents. Xelloss chose this moment to shoot a sphere-like void at her – without Ray Wing, the sorceress had no way of evading it. Instead, she set her weapon against the incoming threat.

"RUBY EYE BLADE!"

With the crimson aura reappearing around her short sword, Lina cut the ominous globe in two with little effort. The attack dissipated, and she continued her descent towards her opponent, readying her sword for another blow; with perfect timing, however, Xelloss slid back in the air, making her miss the second time as well.

Only for the briefest moment did the sorceress swap her spells back; once the winds gave her enough upward momentum to reach the mazoku, she was on the attack again. As if he foresaw this, Xelloss sent another round of magic energy her way; the black beam collided with Lina's crimson blade with a loud hiss. Her spell resisted the attack, but this fact gave her no reprieve: unlike the priest's previous projectiles, the beam emanating from his staff did not have a set amount of strength, but was fueled directly and continuously by his power. Even if it did not hurt her, it pushed her back; the sorceress quickly lost speed and began to fall towards the increasingly polluted layers of air below.

_Nngh, if I stay like this I'll suffocate… but if I cast a flight spell instead of Ruby Eye Blade, Xelloss' cheerful death ray will toast me in a heartbeat!… _

With great effort, Lina slid her body along with her weapon to the side relative to the beam. The blade no longer touched with the mazoku's blast, only the much longer red aura kept the force at bay. With a grunt, she dismissed her magic in an instant; the beam passed by her, if only barely, and hit the pool of lava at the bottom of the valley. Not bothering to glance back at the upsurging wave of molten rock, the sorceress quickly regained momentum once more with Ray Wing and closed in on the priest.

_Come on, get annoyed a little! A small bit of reckless overconfidence is all I want…! _

To her disappointment, however, with the same impeccable timing and precision as before, Xelloss moved out of the way just before her weapon reached him.

_Nah, this isn't working at all,_ Lina thought as she widened the gap between the two of them. _Egoist mazoku or not, Xelloss knows when he needs to be careful – not to mention he has time on his side. It might be no Ragna Blade, but I can't keep this spell active for all eternity. To have any chance at winning, I'm going to need some extra push to make him take a few risks. _

The sorceress let out a long sigh. Similarly to the beginning of their confrontation, she experienced a feeling of calmness. _This is it then. _She smiled faintly._ I've played out all my cards; let's see how badly I've managed to wound Xelloss' pride in the process._

"Hey, this is getting us nowhere, don'tcha think?" She addressed the priest. "I can't hit you, you can't hit me… That's no fun!"

His face twisted into a lopsided grin. "It is a rather bold claim to say that I can't hit you, Lina-san, but do carry on."

"Even if you could, you don't, and I think I know why," the sorceress continued in a confident voice. Xelloss' eyes widened slightly in reaction. "It'd be a shame to waste this occasion without something interesting happening, right? Here's an idea then: how about we finish this fight with the very next attack? One final clash that can go either way and decides everything."

"That would certainly be interesting." The priest nodded slowly; underneath his lighthearted demeanor, she felt him pay excruciating attention to her every word. "What is your proposal?"

"Pretty simple: don't get out of my way for a while. I can only use the Ruby Eye Blade in free fall, but I can still recover quickly enough with Ray Wing if you dodge at this height. Keep me occupied until I fall into the hot bath below, and you win. If I nail you with my sword before that happens, I win. Easy as pie."

The mazoku closed his eyes, looking thoughtful. "Correct me if I am wrong," he spoke with his eyebrows raised, "but aren't you basically asking me to be a sitting duck with next to no compensation on your part? Those are not very fair conditions."

"Why should they be? You were the one who compared this to a contest," Lina pressed on undeterred. "In contests, I shape the rules the way I want and you abide to them. Isn't that what you always said? That you can beat me no matter what?" She added a gleeful smirk as the final touch. "Or… do you feel differently now?"

Her words gave Xelloss pause. "No, Lina-san, not at all," he finally answered. There was no concern or irritation in his voice at seeing his own claims used against him, rather than something close to excitement, anticipation. "In fact, I would not have it any other way."

The sorceress saw him descend a hundred feet in less than a second; Xelloss' figure became nearly invisible through the rising volcanic dust, smoke and gas. "I am ready when you are," the priest called out in a businesslike manner.

Lina was not happy about the development; this way, almost third of the heightshe was currently at was going to be wasted. _Figures. I never said anything about where he could go. I guess I'm lucky he's not standing on the surface of the lava right now. _She took a deep breath._ Doesn't matter. Let's do this._

For the final time, Lina let go of Ray Wing. The wind blew her hair back and tore at the remains of her cape as she began her plunge. She had to balance herself with her arms and legs to avoid spinning and to keep her roughly horizontal position instead of falling head- or feet-first, which became increasingly difficult as she picked up more speed. The landscape around her became a blur; the one thing she saw was the figure of the priest, approaching rapidly. He also turned around in the air to float horizontally; from a tilted point of view, it looked as if the two were running towards each other, with an imminent collision a heartbeat away.

The sorceress grasped her weapon with both hands, readying herself for a powerful sideways slash which she could throw all her momentum into. "RUBY… EYE… BLADE‼" she yelled out, and struck as Xelloss came within reach.

Her blow met a solid obstacle and was forced to the side – the mazoku deflected the attack with his staff, creating a shower of crimson sparks where the two weapons met accompanied by a high-pitched, tantalizing shriek. They did not collide; Xelloss had dispelled his own flight magic in time, making them fall jointly through the air, within arm's reach of each other.

Ignoring her ringing ears, Lina secured her grip on the sword which was nearly wrestled from her hands, whirled around in the air and struck once more. His staff in his left hand, the priest held it forward in a diagonal position; another agonizing shriek sounded as the blade grazed off it ineffectively, the force of the blow creating a shockwave which slowed the sorceress' fall and thus pushed her slightly away from him. The unexpected event caused Lina to wobble; she struggled to stabilize her posture when a sharp, overwhelming pain hit her right shoulder: Xelloss sent a fragment of void her way from his free hand, which crushed her remaining shoulder guard to pieces. She glimpsed the priest's face from under the veil of agony: with nothing but a hint of a smile visible, he appeared tightly focused, as serious as she hardly saw him before. All of his movements and decisions betrayed this; they were cold, precise and calculated to the last degree – and yet they still remained within the limits of her human comprehension.

_Good! _

Lina's aching right reached to her neck and loosened a clasp; her battered cloak tore itself free from the remains of her protective gear and took to the wind. Without it acting like a parachute, the sorceress fell faster and closed the gap between Xelloss and her. Below them, the approaching lava pool emerged dangerously from the mass of smoke.

_You look confident that you can keep me at bay, Xelloss…_ Once again holding her blade with both hands, the sorceress raised it over her head. _What you're not taking into account is that our weapons barely touched so far; they never met each other head on! _Realizing her intention, the priest grasped both ends of his staff and held it up to block her incoming blow_. Let's see if that'll be enough! I'm betting everything on this one strike‼_

The crimson blade met the blackened wood like a bolt of lightning striking a tree. With a blinding flash, the backlash of the struggling magical forces nearly blasted Lina away from the mazoku – but the two weapons now stuck to each other like glue, and she held onto her sword handle desperately while the currents threw her body around like a rag doll. Distantly, she heard something akin to the breaking of a thousand glass windows; recognizing the sound, the sorceress realized that the subspace above them had collapsed.

Then Xelloss' staff snapped in two.

Suddenly, the clarity of sight attacked her from all sides. The winds blew their vicinity free of smoke, and Lina saw everything in minutiae detail, like her eyes prepared for this very moment all along to give her the finest view possible. She glimpsed the muddy earth of the valley-side, the glowing flow of magma at the bottom, and Xelloss flying through the air, his hands fallen unwittingly to the side, grasping the remains of his weapon.

Her plan worked: his defense was broken. The sorceress prepared to thrust her blade forward into his exposed chest – when her eyes became trapped by his gaze.

She knew the look on his face. She saw it only once, but it became engraved into her mind with such precision that she could always recall every single detail of it perfectly. It haunted her, like a cherished yet dreaded memory: surprise, awe and a sense of wonder mixed in a way that felt completely out of place on Xelloss' features.

_Come on, Lina! _Her voice screamed in her head. _This…_ _This isn't the time to philosophize‼_

The moment had passed, and his expression distorted into a frown, but the sorceress did not notice; she only realized what was happening when she saw the priest bring the two halves of his staff together, the wood mending itself seamlessly. She tried to block his blow, but was caught completely defenseless.

The ruby aura around her sword dissolving, Lina's limp form plunged towards the lake of fire.

* * *

_Even at the brink of death, the priest was still mocking her – the sorceress could think of no other reason as she regarded Xelloss' oddly content-looking face. What was he thinking? What was he so damn happy about? _

_She held the key to his destruction over his chest, poised to strike; the one thing that kept her from bringing the blade down was the thought that then it could be truly over for him. She did not want Xelloss to die yet. The priest became the focal point of all her bitterness and anger, and Lina's deranged psyche feared to lose such a convenient target. No, death would be too easy; first, she wanted him to feel the same pain she felt. She wanted him to _suffer_._

_But his look told her differently. Xelloss was still in control. Everything probably went according to his convoluted, secret plan – there always was one. His insults, the deaths of the villagers, the settlement's destruction; they all happened for a calculated reason. Behind that look, he was laughing at her. Behind those closed eyelids, he was making fun of her; she could feel it in every single nerve of her body._

_The sorceress threw her head back with a scream. She could not take it anymore. Even if she played into his hands, she wanted to eradicate that face, that expression from existence forever, without a trace. She snapped her hands up, glaring at them, the insane gleam in her eyes ordering them to stop shaking…_

_There was something written on her fists. No, it was not her fists, it was on the façade of the burning building in the background – her focus jumped around wildly, making the letters hard to discern._

_"Morfir Inn," it read. Lina's hands finally ceased to tremble._

_It is a three day long journey to the south along the Sailinth River, on the road leading through the city of Wanadia, the abandoned village of Morfir and the merchant town of Adigol, to reach the foreboding Dark Mountain._

_So went the legend of the Cliff of Remembrance._

_She heard a soft thud as her sword hit the mud, then promptly forgot the weapon ever existed. Slowly, she lowered her arms to rest them on Xelloss' chest. Anger, bitterness and hatred abandoned her painfully quickly, leaving a gaping hole behind in her heart, and her words sounded similarly empty when she spoke in a feeble whisper._

_"Why?"_

_The priest carefully opened one eye. "Oh my, have you noticed already?" he asked in an impossibly casual manner. "A pity – things have only started to get the most interesting."_

_So it really was part of a plan. This thought echoed across Lina's mind, then left, provoking no reaction whatsoever. "Why did you do this?" she repeated the only question she wanted to hear an answer to._

_The loss of most of his limbs did not the least hamper Xelloss' ability to flash a provocative smile anytime, anywhere. "Because it was fun to watch you get all worked up about it?"_

_"Answer my question, you moron!" There was no real emotion behind her yell, except for a faint trace of tears._

_"It is the truth, Lina-san." The priest scratched the top of his head with his remaining hand. "That is who I am. That is who we mazoku are." Both of his eyes opened as he continued in a lower voice, "The real question is: what do _you_ intend to do? Do you wish to become our plaything, or do you want to oppose us? This question remains open as long as you live, and no matter _how_ you live, with every step you take you are giving an answer to it. Always." He smiled once more. "Are you sure you're giving the right answer at this moment?"_

_Lina stared at the mazoku for seemingly everlasting seconds while the meaning of his words sank in, and the previous emptiness in her was swept away by a tidal wave of emotions. She felt both ashamed and enlightened, terrible and consoled, exasperated and grateful – she had no way to contain it all. The next thing the sorceress knew, she threw her arms around Xelloss' neck, and buried her face into his torn cloak._

_"You're a suicidal idiot, you know that‽" she rasped, her hands half-hugging, half-strangling him. "A complete nutcase!"_

_"Yes, I believe those are quite apt descriptions from your point of view," the priest responded cheerfully. "Why do you sound so surprised about them?"_

_"Oh, shut up already!"_

_Complying, Xelloss remained silent, hesitantly putting his hand on her shoulder; the sorceress had no way to see the pleased, malevolent-looking smile which spread over his face. The azure flames quietly died down around them, like the curtain descending on the stage at an act's end._

* * *

Lina always wondered what it would feel like to lose – not just a battle, but the entire war.

She was not the person to actively contemplate such things; it was more of a morbid fascination hidden in the back of her mind. What would have happened if those daring, final chances that saved her and her loved ones on so many occasions would have proved ineffective once? If Shabranigdu withstood the Giga Slave? If Dark Star repelled the combined power of light and darkness? Or if Luke's wish to die would not have been enough to let him be consumed by his own power? She came close to it a few times, such as when Fibrizo forced the perfected Giga Slave out of her control – but that moment went by so quickly she barely felt it, thus leaving the question unanswered. Until now.

The sorceress would have never imagined it to be so peaceful. She saw Xelloss' figure diminish in the distance, a scorching sensation crept up her back as she neared the lava pool, the air itself was so hot that every ragged breath hurt – it all felt wonderfully irrelevant. There was nothing, absolutely nothing she could do, and for the first time she accepted it. She had done her best, used everything at her disposal, all her talents, all her spells and wits, and still failed; so if failure indeed was her only option, then she could face death with her head held high, without regrets.

_Face death… without regrets? _

Her thoughts lingered on those words. She could not put her mind around it, but there was something in them which she found familiar and also noticeably disturbing.

"_There is truly no reason to fear death if you live your life without regrets…" _she remembered an old, gentle voice say._ "I only wish more people would think the same way._"

Lina gasped for breath. _Officius…_

The sorceress' hand clenched around her sword as her peace shattered like a thinly veiled illusion.

_No! Damn it all to Hell, NO‼ I don't know about you, but for me there can be no such thing as dying without regrets‼ You can accept fate all you want – I haven't come all this way to give up now!_

A single utterance escaped her mouth as her back touched liquid agony – and the cold sensation of water washed away the heat. Lina slowly opened her eyes and found herself floating in the air above the miraculously preserved ruins of the Black Dragon Inn, rain pouring into her face and soaking her clothes. She could not remember when she cast Levitation; she watched numbly as the stream of icy water reached everywhere, into her wounds and sore joints, soothing the pain – the sorceress felt like she was reborn.

"Oh dear. My memory might be getting hazy over the years, but I clearly recall a person saying something along the lines of 'one final clash which decides everything'." She saw Xelloss emerge from under the blanket of rain. The priest regarded her with an amused look. "And, would you believe it, that same person also likes to suspect _me_ of being a cheater. A rather odd claim given the circumstances, I must say."

Lina gave a playful shrug. "Hey, I'm surprised myself. It's not like the holy teleport spell ever worked before." She took a moment to glance at the staff in his hand: it looked burned but whole, with no sign of damage from the Ruby Eye Blade.

_But if Xelloss hit me with that before he sent me falling, I should be in pieces right now! _The sorceress hastily checked her injuries once more; there was no sign of any further harm she could have suffered from the mazoku's last attack. "Are you disappointed?" she asked tentatively.

The priest smiled. "I guess not. I would have been more disappointed if you truly met your end in such a silly, anticlimactic way."

"Really? Be careful what you wish for," the sorceress quipped, pushing her doubts aside. She did not know how she could win, she no longer had any plans or strategies left, only her will to live – but that was enough for her for the time being. "You better be ready, Xelloss, because as long as I draw breath, I'll hang on to life with _everything_ I have!"

Lina waited for the priest to make his move. Whatever came, she felt she was prepared for it.

She was wrong. Instead of continuing their battle, the mazoku's smile withered away, his expression morphing into one of shockingly vivid anger.

"You lie."

Her resolve was replaced by confusion. "What‽"

Xelloss sighed, visibly struggling to keep his uncharacteristic emotion in check. "Lina-san, I would kindly ask you not to take me for a fool." He gestured towards the valley behind him, where a steady column of smoke rose towards the clouds. "I saw perfectly well what happened there: you had me in a notably uncomfortable position, yet you wasted your only opportunity to cause me any real harm. How am I supposed to take you seriously after this‽"

The sorceress reflected the question indignantly. "What do _you_ care about how serious I am?"

"You say it's not obvious?" The priest let out a dry, empty chuckle. "I've already told you at the very beginning: unless you fight in earnest, this whole circus has no point!" He swept his free hand towards her in an almost exasperated manner, as if prompting her to realize something readily apparent. "Can you honestly believe that I only let this fight drag out in order to have fun…? You couldn't be more mistaken. Obliterating your body would not be especially hard or even boring, Lina-san – but if I do nothing else but that, if I do not force you to your utmost limits, then _here,_" Xelloss touched his brow with a hasty, frustrated movement, "here you will not _ever_ die! I would kill you, but I would never be able to _destroy_ you – that is something I will _not_ suffer to happen under any circumstances." He pointed his staff at her forcefully. "Enlighten me; what is making you hesitate? You must realize that without you, your race will perish! Do I have to demolish a couple of cities first to give you the proper incentive…? I can assure you that they will not be empty this time…"

The rain poured even heavier than before. Lina felt water stream down her cheeks, and she was not sure all of it came from the sky.

Then, finally, her expression turned as dark as the clouds above.

"You… You bastard," she seethed, punching the air in frustration. "Who do you think I am‽ I'm not a mazoku, damn it! Unlike you, I can't just happily cut in half one the few remaining people I grew old with‼"

She cast her eyes down at the inn's ruins. "It's true that when we met over a decade ago, you almost proved me wrong; I was so hell-bent on erasing you from the face of the Earth, I didn't care about anything… But I'm no longer the same person, and the funny thing is, I have you to thank for that." She looked at Xelloss again, a bitter smile hiding in the corner of her lips. "That was also a ruse, wasn't it? A sixteen-year-long plan to make me drop my guard around you. Well, congratulations, it worked! You should be celebrating, I really fell for it! Despite my better judgment, I started to believe that some small, odd part of you actually gave a damn about what happened to me, and now I can't bring myself to kill you, hurray! Isn't this what you were going for? Isn't this what you wanted?"

The priest's mouth opened, but Lina gave him no time to reply.

"Because regardless of what you wanted, the situation is this: I won't give my head to you on a silver platter, and I won't let you, the mazoku _or_ the gods do as they please, but… but I withhold the right to feel bad about having to hurt you. Yeah, maybe I'll even hesitate. You have a problem with that? Too bad, because there's _nothing_ you can do to change it! I never was and never will be your plaything, Xelloss; I have my own will and I have my own feelings to consider – that is my final answer to the question you've asked me sixteen years ago."

Lightning struck nearby; the roar of thunder muted all other noise or sound for several seconds. The priest's face looked unusually pale through the column of rain, as his expression advanced from frustration through anger towards plain despair. From a hazy memory which felt more like a half-remembered dream, Lina recalled seeing a similar look on the face of Hellmaster Fibrizo, when the mazoku lord was confronted with a being infinitely more powerful than himself: it was the maddening realization of treasured goals proving unreachable, of carefully laid plans crumbling into nothing. Xelloss visibly struggled against it; his staff still pointed at her threateningly, the stiffness of his extended arm like a warning that should he truly fall victim to these feelings, he would make sure that the sorceress suffered likewise.

A black piece of cloth got caught on his limb, flailing about it in the wind like a battered flag. It was Lina's abandoned cloak – and it seemed to be forcing his aim to the side. His face contorting into a sneer, the priest tossed his arm upwards to shake it off, but he miscalculated his move: the cloak would not leave him, his gem-adorned staff, however, twisted out of his hands. Carried by the winds and his forceful thrust, the wooden weapon spiraled through the air, into the deep valley, tumbling down the slope and ultimately plunging into the scorching pool of lava. It sank half-way before disintegrating entirely into black fog, which was dispersed immediately by the air currents.

After long moments of silence, Xelloss slowly lowered his outstretched arm, and regarded the sorceress' torn piece of clothing in his hands with a barely noticeable, newfound smile.

"If that is true, then I have lost," he said simply. "And as tempting as it may be to challenge your resolve, I know you all too well: it would be an exercise in futility now. Apparently, it no longer matters if I defeat you or not; my own personal defeat is assured either way."

Their eyes met. The mazoku's gaze felt dim, almost lifeless, while Lina on the other hand pierced him with a wide-eyed stare of confusion and disbelief. "Xelloss, what… what on earth are you saying?"

"My plan was considerably more complicated than simply gaining your trust, Lina-san." The priest's voice rang hollow as he stroked the cloak's trimming absent-mindedly. "After all, to you I became considerably more than a simple 'friend', didn't I?… Most amusingly, perhaps with that plan I managed to dig my own grave," he added with a shrug. "Back then it seemed like a wonderful idea of course, I even remember exchanging some boastful words with the Nameless One about it: a tactic of wits rather than direct confrontation, a strategy hanging on human emotions instead of brute force… But then this pointless conflict came, and completely ruined it all."

He let his hand slip off the cloak's silky black fabric. "Still, no matter how I blame the unforeseen circumstances, it does not change the outcome." He bowed deeply; the sorceress was shocked to realize that the bow was not a form of greeting, but of respect and subordination. "I accept defeat, Lina-san – I cannot find the will or the reason in me to continue. Regardless of its unfortunate ending, however, I must tell you that this had been one of the most enjoyable battles I had the pleasure to take part in." He straightened, and smiled his usual, cheerful smile one final time. "Best of luck to you… and farewell."

"Hey… Hey, wait! Xelloss!" Lina called out, but the priest was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was her pierced, torn cloak, which the wind yielded gracefully into the sorceress' hands.

_End of Part One._

-o-

**Author's notes: **I truly apologize for the late update. This chapter is finished since two months now (both parts of it), but because of issues in "post-production", its publication was delayed. The second part is still in beta, and will be posted as soon as my poor beta reader gets through my word-avalanche of a text.

My most heartfelt thanks go to all the people who helped me with this chapter, especially **Kiadi**, who came to my rescue and did the bulk of the beta reading for this part. I am unspeakably grateful to her. I also thank all readers and reviewers, whose support continues to push me and my story towards completion.

Hopefully we will meet again really soon – and this time, I do mean _really_ soon. ; ) In the meantime, check out Apple-Cake's illustrations for the fic, along with her other works, on DeviantArt! They are really awesome!


	9. The Darkest Hour, part 2

**Chapter 5. The Darkest Hour – Part 2.**

During much of its five hundred years of recorded history, Sairaag was always regarded as one of the most famous cities not only in Lyzeille, but in the entire peninsula. It was known by a number of titles, but the two most widespread were 'the City of Magic' – and, ominously enough, 'the City of Ghosts'. These two together describe its rugged history perfectly: Sairaag was the center of magical research and study, but more than once paid the price of these experiments going wrong, leveling most of the town as a result.

When it first happened, when the horrifying monster Zanaffar appeared and nearly proved unstoppable, the survivors turned against those responsible; all the sorcerers left to a faraway land named Taforashia, leaving the multinational institution of the Sorcerer's Guild, traditionally governed from Sairaag, without a central authority. The settlement's reputation remained, however, prompting the famous Rezo, one of the Six Great Sages, to establish a secret cache of knowledge and artifacts nearby. In the end, the city could not escape its fate: its second destruction was delivered by the Red Priest's half-mazoku copy, another experiment which turned against its creator.

After that, the residents changed tactics. Under Lina Inverse's guidance, the Sorcerer's Guild headquarters were rebuilt to become bigger and more powerful than ever before. The city openly embraced all kinds of magic again; its simpler forms found their way into the homes of the common folk, assisting them in everyday tasks such as lighting and cleaning. Spells were everywhere, but only under one strict condition: that the sorcerers would use their influence to keep the more dangerous aspects of their art in Sairaag under tight control, so that the mistakes of the past would not be repeated again. Or at least, that was the theory.

Seemingly, this tenet was taken to heart, and the city flourished, exceeding all expectations. Its high spires nearly touched the sky, its roads were wide, clean and constantly full of traffic, and the citizens became among the wealthiest of the nation. The previous hardships began to fade into history, and most agreed that Sairaag was on its way towards a bright, spectacular future, without anything to be afraid of.

When the summer sky was covered by thick, dark clouds, and eventually, the storm arrived with thunderous flashes of lightning and rain, few people took notice of anything being out of the ordinary. The merchants at the marketplace offered a silent prayer of gratitude to the gods that the downpour came late in the afternoon, packed up their wares and left. Those of the city guards who were fortunate enough not to be on patrol duty withdrew into their barracks and outposts, leaving their windows open just enough to welcome the cool wind after the uncomfortable heat. Others also hustled along the streets, trying to get their business done as quickly as possible and hurry home, so they can safely watch the arcs of lightning dance around the gigantic New Flagoon tree and the guild's high tower at the city center – an awe-inspiring spectacle to behold.

At the foot of said building, the young receptionist envied their luck. Objectively speaking, he had little to complain about: studying at the very heart of human sorcery was not only an honor and unique opportunity, but an exciting adventure in itself. Still, he found some of the miscellaneous duties, such as his current assignment of welcoming the institution's guests, to be impossibly dull and boring, especially since no guests really bothered to come in such harsh weather – and in these hours the benefits of his education felt like a small comfort.

With a yawn, his glance swept through the large entry hall lit by floating spheres of light; like almost all parts of the building, the walls were enchanted, subtly changing their colors over time. He watched dully as the dark blue gradually advanced towards pinkish red. Nothing moved or made a sound, except for the muffled noises of the storm outside the double doors of the entrance. The boy tiredly leaned on the marble table in front of him, resting his head on his arms, and closed his eyes.

He heard the front doors creak. Blaming it on the outside winds, he reminded himself to check whether they were properly shut later. For now, he thought, maybe he could sleep a little. No one would notice, after all…

"Hey, you…"

The receptionist half-opened one eye, certain that he was hearing things – he then opened both of them wide, and jumped back from the table.

A young woman floated in the air before him; a steady stream of water poured from her brown hair and black and white clothes to the floor. She looked horrible: her sorceress outfit was almost torn to shreds, her exposed flesh at places blackened, at others covered with dried blood. Her red eyes, however, looked entirely clear and determined, if somewhat sad, which only made her look even more terrifying.

"Gaaah, a specter!" the receptionist yelled, sounding not only scared, but annoyed. "Those crazy Wachosk brothers summoned another one‽ Ceiphied help me, I'll make sure they get expelled this time!"

"Stop bawling, I'm not dead… I'm levitating because I can't stand on my legs." The woman shot him down in an exhausted voice. "Go and round up some of the teachers for me, will ya? I need to… have a word with them, and it's kind of urgent."

The boy blinked; her request was roughly on the same level of a complete stranger waltzing into the palace and demanding a little 'chat' with the king. But, although he did not entirely understand why, he found himself taking her at least somewhat seriously. "Why, what happened?" he asked cautiously. "Is it the end of the world or something?"

"You got that right," the sorceress answered weakly. "Something very close to it… ugh…" She wobbled in the air for a second before the spell keeping her afloat finally gave in; the receptionist caught her by the shoulder to keep her from collapsing.

In seconds, those boring, dull moments of 'business as usual' in Sairaag came to an abrupt end – and somehow the boy found himself wishing that they would rather return.

* * *

She was floating in the middle of nowhere – Jane could not give a better assessment of her situation. Her surroundings were completely featureless, even darkness or light failed to make an appearance: around her, above and below, everything was muddled gray, and even the gray tried its best to hide that it was, in fact, a valid color, instead of an indiscernible wall of haze.

"Who would have thought? You actually did it." The waitress appeared before her. She did not fade into view gradually from the gray backdrop, but materialized without warning from one second to the next. Her form felt less tangible than before, rather slightly translucent, closer to the spiritual apparition that she really was. "Maybe Xelloss was right about you: you're not as hopeless as you look at first glance."

The girl seemed flustered by the praise. "I'm not sure," she replied weakly. "I experienced it more like I was lucky, I guess."

"Hmh, if you still feel powerless, I think I can help you with that." The ghost brought her hands to her chest. Her fingers reached into her incorporeal form, and with a careful tug, pulled out something the size of her fist: a sparkling, asymmetric crystal wreathed in blue and faint red tongues of flame. "This is a fragment of Flare Dragon Ceiphied's soul, a small part of him which wasn't lost to the Sea of Chaos, nor entrusted to his four descendants. Ever since his death, this fragment appeared in each generation, embedded into the souls of newborn children, humans like me, who are known as the Knights of Ceiphied." She looked down at the crystal musingly, like she also saw it for the first time. "Normally, it'd be impossible to pass it on like this, but the Nameless One's stupidity messed up the reincarnation cycle. I have no choice but to kick it back into gear."

The waitress made an offering gesture with her hand, and the flaming soul fragment began to float towards Jane, stopping at half way between them. "Here, take it. Once you get the hang of things, you'll find that it's much more powerful than whatever 'spells' that demon was granting you earlier – the two aren't even worth comparison. Believe it or not, girl, even Xelloss will have a hard time against you," she added with a smug look. "It goes without saying that I'm not too comfortable with giving it away. I would've preferred if you didn't know about its existence within you at all – but that would no longer work, and besides… it's silly, but for some reason I don't think it will turn out too badly in the end."

The former Knight of Ceiphied lowered her arms, relinquishing her hold on the fragment entirely.

Jane's eyes positively feasted on the beauteous crystal. Even from such a distance, she felt the raw, intoxicating power within, might that could split the skies and shake the world to its foundations. All she needed to do was to reach for it, and the piece of the god's soul would forever be merged with her own. She would become a completely different person. Her life would never be the same embarrassing satire again.

The girl's hand never moved a muscle.

"Thanks, but… could you please take it back?" she muttered. "I don't want it."

The waitress stared at her like she just sprouted three heads. "A-Are you out of your mind?"

"No, it's just that… I think I understand now why Ms. Lina was so mad at me." Jane lowered her head. "If I made use of this, I'd again be employing something which isn't really my own. Something I never really worked for to achieve. I'm sorry, but I don't want that to happen – I can't accept your offer."

The ghost's gaze hardened, her mouth tilting into a frown. "Well, isn't that great. You made a _huge_ self-discovery, ready to take your life to the next level; I'm so touched, I want to kiss the top of your cute little head. There's only one single, tiny little problem with it… that I don't give a damn‼" she snapped with a sudden burst of anger. "Do you think I'll patiently wait for another forty long years before I get such an opportunity again? Or do you think I'll take the blame for letting a five-thousand years old lineage die out because of your damned inferiority complex‽ Fat chance! Who _cares_ about your pathetic issues‽ I never wanted this power either, but I still nurtured it for a century – now I want _out_!" She spun around. "And getting out of here is exactly what I'm going to do!"

"Y… You can't!" Jane yelled desperately.

"Watch me," the waitress shot back in a cold voice. Her form began to shrink into the distance rapidly – but a moment later she was standing in the same spot as before, as if something yanked her back into place. Looking confused, the ghost glanced behind her, and saw an angled, blue-red chain of light seizing her right arm, its other end fastened to Jane's hand in a similar fashion; both halves of the chain emanated from Ceiphied's soul crystal between them.

"How… how could you do this‽" the ghost demanded. "It took me years to have any control over the fragment! How could you tap into its powers so easily…‽" She trailed off, understanding spreading over her features. "I get it now; so _that_ is why the Nameless One was so interested in playing around with you. Given the opportunity, you could control its powers with the same ease like they were your own… just like you now control mine. You don't even have to be aware of it… Unbeliavable."

"I d-don't know anything about that… but please, stay just for a little bit longer," the girl pleaded. "I really owe you a lot; I promise I'll find a way to get Flare Dragon's soul to a new owner. Just… give me a little time, that's all I ask."

The waitress looked annoyed, but sense of relief could also be felt underneath her cold exterior. "Fine. It's not like I have a choice," she murmured, then added with a snicker, "You might grow to regret this though. I won't stay quiet any longer, and people tell me I'm an awful person to live with."

"People tell me the exact same thing," Jane replied sheepishly. "Thank you."

"Which reminds me, you better wake up." The ghost glanced to the side. "It looks like we have some unpleasant company."

"Company?" The girl gave a start. "But how do I wake—"

Her eyes popped open.

"…up?"

She lay on her back in the middle of the road, soaked by the pouring rain. She could see a column of smoke rising from behind the treetops of the Miasma Forest, but what really captured her attention was the ongoing conversation nearby.

"It was pointless to drag me here. The Nameless One is already gone," an unknown voice spoke with a low growl.

"But it left the human alive! It never did such a thing before!" The second voice was more familiar; Jane bolted up as she recognized it as one of the mazoku who confronted her and Nilian a little while ago.

She was right: the short ape-like and the slime-covered skeletal demons stood next to the line of trees. They were talking to a roughly humanoid figure with glowing white eyes, the rest of its form covered in impenetrable darkness, who likely was the first to speak.

"Doesn't matter," it said. "Let's kill the human like we were ordered to, and return to the rest of our squad. Sairaag has to fall soon; Huraker-sama is getting impatient, and neither of us wants to make her angry."

"Don't worry about that; I'm giving you some new orders."

All heads turned to the young woman who stepped forth from the trees. Her dark clothes looked to be a cross between a cleric's robes and a military uniform, decorated with silver runes all around. She seemed no older than her mid-teens, with large but unfriendly eyes and long black hair twisted into a single triple-braided pigtail. "I know Dynast Grausherra-sama is on the move; I want you to take me to him, immediately," she addressed the three mazoku. Her voice was the same which Jane heard in the Nameless One's forgotten piece of memory.

"General… Sherra… sama…" the ape-like demon stammered. "But you… you're dead!"

"Do I look dead to you, idiot? Now do as I say!" the woman barked, shooting an angry glance towards Jane as well. "If you're expecting some kind of an eternal gratitude, human, you better give up on that idea quickly. Clear out of here, before I change my mind and get rid of you right away."

The girl had no intention of arguing; ignoring the annoyed voice in her head telling her to fight, she sprang to her feet and started running towards Sairaag as fast as she could. Should she have stayed, though, she could have bore witness to an alarming scene which took place immediately afterwards.

"Gratitude…?" The skeletal mazoku sounded shocked. "But… does it mean that she… that you were… you were the Nameless—"

"Be quiet!" Sherra snapped her head back to glower at the demon, but her furious gaze jumped quickly to its fellow, covered in darkness. "What did you just say‽"

"I haven't said a word!" the shrouded being protested, taking a step back.

"What do you take me for‽ I clearly heard you whispering about the 'unnaturalness' of my existence," the general spoke through clenched teeth. "How _dare_ you insult me!"

"I… I never said that aloud…" The dark mazoku started to back away, sounding terrified. "You can still read others' minds…! You are… you're still an abomination!"

"NO‼" Sherra screamed, and lunged forward with insane frenzy. A simple black rapier with a slightly curved blade appeared in her hand, and bisected the demon from head to toe.

"Aaaah‼" With a panicked yell, the ape-like mazoku whirled around to flee; in the next moment, the obsidian sword pierced its chest, reducing its body to a puddle of oil-like goo.

Sherra lashed out with her arm, and caught the slimy skeleton by its throat. "Are you willing to obey me _now_‽" she hissed.

"Y-Yes, Sherra-sama." The third demon kept inclining its head desperately. "Your wish is m-my command and all that."

"Then lead the way," the general ordered, releasing the mazoku as madness gradually faded from her eyes. Both of them disappeared from the dusty road a second later.

* * *

Lina hung onto the young boy's arm as he dragged her up a spiral staircase, holding her by her shoulders. Not only did she feel awfully tired, but the injuries which she managed to ignore in the heat of battle now came back with a terrible, painful vengeance. She cast Recovery on them back in the forest which succeeded in closing her wounds somewhat, but they were far from being fully healed and she still could not feel her legs; her entire body screamed for rest, and it took all of her willpower just to keep herself from passing out.

_What's my problem, damn it…? I survived worse beatings than this…_

She could not recount all the halls and corridors they passed through, but she had a rough idea that they were heading towards the students' quarters. Once they reached the top of the stairs, the receptionist sat her down on a small, three legged stool. She could see several bunk beds lined up next to the walls in a room which gave the impression of an attic.

"I'll be right back, Miss." The boy touched her arm reassuringly before his footsteps faded into the distance. Lina found it increasingly hard to move any of her limbs – her strength was leaving her entirely, and she did not understand why. Her neck going limp, her head fell forward…

"_So, what's the plan, Lina?_" someone called her name.

_I haven't had much time to think about it yet. _She leaned against the trunk of a huge, solitary oak tree in the middle of an endless wasteland. _We need to get the locals out of Sairaag first and think of strategies later._

_"Sure, fine by me."_

Lina frowned. _Seriously Gourry, you would've said the same thing if I started explaining the most complicated plan ever to you. Why do you even ask?_

_"You sound like you know what you're doing."_ The swordsman shrugged._ "That's all I wanted to hear."_

She felt her cheeks turn pink._ Oh. Okay._

"_I'm_ g_lad you two are so optimistic."_

_Because you sure aren't, are you Zel? _The sorceress patted him on the back.

_"Lina, we're obviously outnumbered, and badly. We need to find some allies soon or we'll keep retreating until there is no place left to run."_

_"Don't worry, we will take the fight to them! No goodhearted soul will take such an outrage lying down – once we band together against this evil, justice will achieve a glorious triumph!"_

She sighed. _I really hope you're right, Amelia. I'd take a half as glorious triumph, even._

_"My, that sounded almost as if you doubt your chances to succeed." _

She glanced towards the top branches of the tree. _Anything actually _useful_ to add, Xelloss?_

_"Hmm… I don't think I'm revealing a secret when I say that doubting was never your strong point, Lina-san. It is a bit late to start practicing now, don't you think?"_

_That's… true I guess. _She smiled._ All right, let's show them what we're made of!_

Gourry's hand rested on her shoulder. "_You can always count on us._"

She closed her eyes contentedly._ Thank you. I really mean that. As long as I have you guys with me, I can—_

Lina heard a distant creak, and found herself staring at the wooden floor of the students' quarters again, in the middle of a city which would soon meet its end, but knew nothing of it. She was completely alone, no one to turn to, no one to talk to – and the reason for her weakness finally dawned upon her.

All of them were gone now. Even Xelloss.

"What do you mean you couldn't find any of the teachers?" she heard an approaching female voice say skeptically.

"I told you, all the restricted laboratories downstairs are empty! No one I met on our way here saw any ranking staff member since over an hour!" the receptionist replied. "I hoped you knew where the old priest was at least. This woman sounded pretty serious that she has important news to tell to someone in charge, and her wounds need to be treated before she drops dead at our feet."

"The old man also left me in the middle of a lesson on chimera research an hour ago," it was the girl again, somewhat irritated. "Don't worry though, I've got the healing part covered. Once I patch our mystery guest up, we'll hear her out. If something's so important that it keeps all the higher-ups busy, the last thing I want is to barge in on them with some nonsense." Her words now came directly from above. "Ugh… Right, she really doesn't look so good. Maybe we should— Whoops!"

Lina found herself disappearing in a giant heap of paper sheets.

"If this is supposed to be part of a healing spell," she murmured evenly, "then a lot changed about white magic in recent years I didn't know about."

"No, I just slipped, I'm really sorry." The girl sounded flustered. "We would need you to fill out these forms before I'm allowed to cast Resurrection on you."

With great effort, Lina turned her head towards her. A short brown-haired teenager in white robes met her gaze apologetically.

"You're kidding, right?" the sorceress droned.

"Err, no Miss, these are mandated by the city council," the receptionist explained in an entirely serious voice. "To avoid past accidents, the regulations on safe spell usage here became the strictest in the world in recent years. If we don't want to get jailed, we need you to accept the list of spells we use on you, the list of magic we might employ if something goes wrong, the ones we would cast when both of these would turn out bad, and the possible side-effects these spells may have. Also, you need to read and accept the shortened thirty-page version of guild's ethical codex, the standard disclaimer about unforeseeable arcane disasters, and Sairaag's educational paper on the dangers of becoming addicted to magic. Oh, and there is also the statement you need to sign about—"

"I think I'll rather die, thanks."

"Okay-okay, just sign the white magic safety manifesto then!" The girl searched through the pile, and handed the sorceress a single sheet along with a long swan quill. With a grumble, Lina scribbled her signature to the bottom of the page; the quill seemed empty, but still left a steady line of ink on the paper.

With a satisfied nod, the young healer put her hands on Lina's back and began her work. Her inexperience immediately became obvious to the sorceress: she wielded the healing energies clumsily, most of her concentration simply spent on keeping Resurrection active; it must not have been long ago that she learned to cast it in the first place. For a moment, Lina's thoughts jumped back to the not-so-distant past, when she witnessed Priest Officius' mastery over curative spells in Atlas City – and decided with a scowl of resentment that she would still take the student's fumbling efforts over his anytime.

"Uh, sorry for asking something so stupid," the receptionist spoke up after a few minutes, startled, "but Resurrection isn't supposed to heal people's clothing, right…?"

"No, but… I'm sure her shoulder guards were pretty much missing a little while ago," the girl sounded similarly uncertain of what was happening.

Lina removed a small splinter of wood piercing her sleeve, and the tear disappeared almost instantly. "I didn't make these clothes and armor from a small fortune to shred them in the first serious battle. They fix themselves up when I have enough life energy left to spare," she said, flexing her toes as she felt life gradually return to her legs. She glanced at the healer again encouragingly. "This means you're not doing a bad job."

The two students exchanged incredulous looks, before the girl retrieved the paper Lina signed from a nearby bed. "Well then, I'm mostly done, so how about you tell us those important news, Miss… err…." She stared at the signature in silence, color draining from her face. "…Oh crap."

"What? Who is she?" The boy also peered closer. "I can't read this squiggle at all."

"I can't either, but… don't you remember seeing the same signature at the bottom of the founding charter?"

Blanching likewise, the receptionist plopped down on the bed. "Oh well… At least I had a couple of fun years at this school…"

"Don't whine, you've done nothing wrong." Lina rose from her seat. She still felt a bit sore at places, and the spell did not do much to ease her exhaustion, but it was enough.

_Mope-time's over,_ _I still have things to do. If I have to do them alone… then so be it. _

She turned to the two students; they were looking at her slack-jawed as the last holes in her cloak mended before their eyes, like she just jumped out of a page in the history books. "Come on, let's track down the guild faculty. Once we find them, you can listen to what I have to say there."

* * *

Regardless of the season, the wind among the snow-covered tops of the Kataart Mountains was always bone-chilling: it blew constantly, carrying a vapor of icy snow. Few living beings frequented these summits, and even most of those who did never stayed for long – only a single exception existed for this rule.

"Milgazia-sama…"

Surprised, the towering golden dragon turned away from the southwest horizon he had been gazing at to look at the young woman calling his name. She had long blond hair and ordinary clothes entirely unfit for the local weather. Even in such a form, her arrival should not have escaped his notice – but apparently he was too absorbed in his thoughts to pay adequate attention.

"We have been worried about you, Filia," the dragon spoke in the language of humans, the same tongue which he was addressed in. "Where have you left Val?"

"He's staying home in Solaria," she answered in a tone that could have been mistaken for provocative. Milgazia's wings twitched in reaction to his shock.

"What…?" he rasped in a deep, guttural voice. "That place is no longer safe! You must get him away from there at once!"

"So it is true, is it not?" Filia took a few steps forward, shortening the distance between them; she sounded calm, but at the same time her words felt to be burning from inside. "Our race has agreed to carry out _another _genocide, Milgazia-sama? Wasn't the ancients' blood on our hands enough?"

"It was more than enough." The old dragon turned his head away. "But you were not there during the War of the Monster's Fall, Filia. You cannot imagine how terrible it was, how close we got to the end. Both ryuzoku and shinzoku are unfathomably terrified of the mere thought of it happening again, and since two pieces of Ruby Eye already appeared very recently, felled only by near-miracles… they began to suspect a trend, which they would not dare to let continue." He stomped his foot, causing the mountain below them to tremble. "I have warned Lina of the possibility, she knew about it well. We both tried our utmost to keep this from happening – but what can she do, when she is the very heart of the calamity? And what do you believe I could do now? Nothing. Nothing at all."

"So you… you agreed to this?" she whispered disbelievingly.

"I have _not_," Milgazia snorted in disgust. "Since the death of the Aqualord, my tribe takes orders from no one. Speaking as their leader, I have told the other tribes' envoys that we shall remain neutral during the conflict. My disciple Memphis informed me that the nearby elves have adopted a similar stance. We will let the events take their course."

"But that is the same thing!" Her patience at end, Filia pointed accusingly at the elder. "You're only deluding yourselves! If you are content with sitting idly by, you might as well start slaughtering innocents regardless – it would not make a difference!"

"What else do you expect of me‽" the age-old dragon roared back. His inhumanly loud and sharp voice reverberated among the chasms, loosening a wall of snow which rolled down the valley in the form of a devastating avalanche. "Do you think I should lead my people into battle against our own kind‽ How would _that_ be different from the slaughter of the ancients?"

Filia wanted to retort, but the reply got stuck in her throat. She lowered her head, staring in solemn silence into the valley below as the avalanche erased a group of pine trees and continued downwards, like an unchangeable, unstoppable force of destruction.

* * *

By the time Lina finished searching the guild headquarters from top to bottom, she had a smaller army of students, clerks and other support staff trailing her. They respectfully kept a few paces of distance but were still close behind everywhere she went, and the sorceress started to feel like some rare animal in a zoo, her simplest grimaces or head-scratches evoking murmurs of astonishment from the crowd.

_Can't say I hate appreciation, but this is a few notches over the top._

The situation was the same no matter where she looked. A little over an hour ago, every officially recognized magic user received a message through the Vision spell, abandoned what they were doing and departed to an unknown part of the building – if not left altogether. Assuming they stayed, however, there was only one place she had not been to yet: the assembly chamber at the top of the main tower.

The chamber was supposed to be unused in this time of the year. Only the annual conference of Sorcerers' Guild leaders from around the world and a handful of other prestigious events were allowed to take place there, with the final say on authorization, along with the keys to the entrance, being in the hands of Sairaag's guild chairman. Needless to say, while the guilds in other cities worked more or less independently of each other, this person still had peerless influence over the spellcasting community as a whole. Lina had some fond memories of the previous chairman, but she did not know whether he was still alive, and if he was, whether he retired from the position already because of his advanced age.

_It's been a long time since I've been this involved in guild matters, so I'm a bit out of the loop, _she thought as she climbed the tower's long, winding staircase, the group of onlookers not far behind. She considered asking them about the chairman, but dismissed the idea as unnecessary. _Whoever he or she is, calling together a meeting up there means deadly serious business. _The sorceress paused near the top of the stairs._ Maybe they already know? But then why aren't they doing anything? _

She leaped up the remaining couple of steps, and saw a twenty feet tall marble arch ahead, the view through it blocked by a red satin curtain; the entrance was usually a lot better protected, but all the locks and magical wards have been removed already. Her ears picked up the muffled sounds of debate as Lina marched to the arch; she pushed the two halves of the silky fabric to the side and stepped through the threshold.

The spacious, circular room was constructed to resemble an amphitheater, with ascending rows of stone-carved seats encircling the wall; the last line of chairs nearly touched the high ceiling. Every seat was occupied, with some sorcerers even left standing on the stairs leading up the rows; they were arguing and shouting at each other, but mostly at the person standing on the podium in the middle of the room. All that was visible from the tall but hunched sorcerer was the back of his steel blue robes and the top of his bald head, covered by wrinkles – which was all Lina needed to recognize him.

"You didn't resign after all, huh, Mar?" she spoke lightly as she entered the room. Silence fell upon the crowd almost instantly as all eyes fell upon her.

The old man turned around carefully; his cold blue eyes shined with a clarity which contrasted the signs of age on his lined face. "Magistress… By Zoamelgustar, it really is you," he muttered.

"I haven't been teaching you anything for a while, you know." The sorceress approached him, her expression somewhat nostalgic. "As long as I'm not calling you 'Chairman Markus Zoana Auth Navratilova the Blue', you can drop the formal titles too."

A wave of whispers ran through the assembly.

"You… you are the Demon Slayer Lina Inverse, are you not?" one of the mages spoke warily from the front row. "Forgive my bluntness, but what does one of the Great Sages want from us at such an hour, after nearly three decades of absence?"

The chairman's eyes berated him coldly. "Show some respect, boy."

"No, that's okay." Lina waved her hand. "I already wasted too much time with the hide-and-seek in this place, so I might as well get straight to the point." She pointed with her thumb to her left, towards the western portion of the wall. "I'll also be blunt: as crazy as it sounds, the city will be run over by a large combined force of both mazoku and golden dragons in a matter of hours."

Her ridiculous-sounding claim provoked markedly less reaction from her audience than she thought it would; not sure what to make of this, the sorceress continued on. "I ran into some of their troops earlier and I've seen the destruction they're capable of with my own eyes; they already leveled every single settlement at least thirty miles west of here. We need to do something before things get nasty." There still was hardly any reaction. Lina looked questioningly at the chairman. "Although… something tells me you already knew about this, right?"

The elderly sorcerer glanced the other way, not looking her in the eye.

"Show her, Markus," another mage with a long white beard spoke up. After a moment of hesitation, the chairman made a tired gesture towards the walls – which immediately became transparent. And not only the walls: the circular rows of seats along with their occupants became little more than a faint outline in Lina's eyes, letting her behold the surrounding landscape in its entirety.

The sorceress drew a sharp breath. To the west, what remained of the Miasma Forest was blanketed by a haze of darkness. The forest was teeming with mazoku; through the tower's magically enhanced vision, their fearsome presence felt almost as if they were within arm's reach of her.

_I hoped we'd have more time than this…!_

"We also saw a few dragons circling above the forest earlier," the previous mage said in a grave voice. "They and the mazoku did not seem to be fighting, although we do not know why. There is also smoke rising from the direction of the inn beyond the forest. The seriousness of the situation became clear to us relatively quickly."

Lina mimicked the chairman's hand-gesture, and the outside view was again replaced by the room's interior. "Well, that saves us some time at least," she said before her face set into a small, puzzled frown. "But tell me then, why is the city all quiet and peaceful like nothing is about to happen? Why are you all sitting here arguing instead of trying to get the locals to safety…? We haven't got all day you know!"

"It's already too late," a female voice sounded from the back row. "There is no time to evacuate; we would only cause panic, not to mention turn the residents against us."

Murmurs of agreement could be heard from the crowd, much to Lina's astonishment.

"Yes, who else would be there to blame?" another sorcerer spoke. "Whatever happened to Sairaag in the past, we were always the ones held responsible for it. That's what we've been trying to tell Chairman Markus just now: we should gather whatever books and other important artifacts we can take with us, and leave the city immediately. Those morons can rot here for all I care."

_Say what…‽_

"Zoamelgustar curse you all, you despicable spineless cowards!" the old chairman's head snapped up angrily, his yell piercing the tumult. "I've told you already; there is no way the city council could make a case against us if we helped them hold the mazoku off! You're all making this up because you want to stay out of harm's way!"

Several furious retorts sounded immediately, raising the chaos in the room to the same level it was before Lina's entrance.

"Really, Markus? Do you honestly think it's wrong that I don't want to risk my neck for _these_ people‽"

"Weren't you here in the past years‽ With all the impossible regulations and paperwork they forced upon us, the council is trying to ruin us with or without the mazoku!"

"They took our art and turned it into a mere tool for housework – everything else is nigh forbidden! They leech upon us constantly and you want us to protect them‽"

Lina watched with a strange sense of detachment as the chairman's unstrung breathing quickened, red specks of fire blinking to life within his half-clenched fist. She knew it was supposed to be the other way around; normally, she should have been the one to literally grill some sense into the guild members with a few Fireballs several times over by now. But for some reason she could not get herself angry – it was like that flame inside her burnt itself out.

"Let me handle this, Mar," she put a hand on the shoulder of her former pupil. He gave a start at her touch, but then took a deep breath and stepped down from the podium with a nod, making space for the sorceress.

Lina ran her gaze through the room with a hard look, and the noise died down – the infamy she acquired in addition to her fame did come in handy at times.

"As some of you said, I haven't been around for a while, so I don't know much about what happened here – but honestly, I don't care, and neither should you," she stated calmly. "All I know is this: we are the only ones who can help. If we don't, thousands of innocent people will die. No 'but's – that's a _fact_."

Her words echoed in the room like it was empty; no one dared to talk back this time.

"You have two choices. If a massacre like that is fine by you, then by all means, go wherever you want. But if it isn't, then stop making excuses and give me a hand; I'm not going to let it happen if I can help it, but I can't do it all by myself. It's as simple as that." She jumped off the podium and turned her back to them. "We need to start clearing out the city right away, so you better choose quickly."

With that, Lina made her way to the exit. She could hear only precious few footsteps follow her lead.

_Not much more I can do here. Some help these people turned out to be…_

She reached the tall arch; the two halves of the satin curtain were already pulled to the side by a pair of students to let everyone in the stairway hear what happened inside. The crowd gathered in the forefront and the stairs listened to the previous discussion in stunned silence.

"What about you?" the sorceress addressed them curtly. "Are you planning to run off as well?"

Then she noticed something: unlike the majority of the spellcasters in the room, most of the younger ones gathered here did not show signs of fear. They looked restless – perhaps even excited.

"Magistress… we're…" she heard the receptionist say, "We're with you all the way!"

"Yeah!" someone else yelled. "We'll show these mazoku who's boss!"

"That's right! You did it before, we'll do it again! Let's bring them down!"

Before Lina could even comprehend what happened, the stairway was filled by the strengthening sound of cheer.

_Well I'll be… I hope they hear that inside too, _she thought, her expression relieved. _Of course, these kids probably don't really know who we're dealing with – but it's just as well._

"That's the spirit!" She marched towards the stairs, the crowd splitting up to make room for her. For some reason, she suddenly felt a lot less tired than before. "Come on, we need to get to it right away! Do you keep some Illusion Gems in this place? We need at least a dozen of those…"

"Why do you need the gems, Lina-sama?" a boy looking barely over ten asked as she passed by her.

"Well, the ever-so-wise sorcerers inside said they don't want to cause panic," she winked at him, "but the way I see it, a little well-orchestrated panic can go a long way!"

* * *

Milgazia, the Supreme Elder of Aqualord's golden dragons stared blankly at the gigantic icicle sprouting from between his pair of reptilian nostrils, like a long, strangely placed horn. It looked as if Filia was about to give up on their argument, but then abruptly spun around and fired an ice spell at his head, resulting in this rather funny-looking appendage.

"Filia… what are you doing?" he stammered.

The dragoness folded her arms in front of her chest with a huff. "You know, there is a popular story I heard about a little boy whose nose always grew longer when he told a lie. I think that also fits you very well right now. Shame on you, Milgazia-sama."

The elder dragon was so hurt in his dignity that he could not even put it to words – so he tried prying the icicle off instead, but it froze so well onto his nose in the chilling cold that it would not budge without causing serious pain.

"If you really want to know," Filia continued in a somewhat lower voice, "if I could have been there when it happened, I would have rather died protecting the ancients than to let my tribe go forward with their atrocity." She opened her arms wide. "So, do you think I desire to kill my own family? That's not what I told you at all! It's just that our kind has to know that what they are doing is _wrong._ And if they still want to go through with it then they need to kill some of their own first, because there are those among them who will not let it happen. I would like to see just how much of a sacrifice their goal is worth for them."

Milgazia lowered his long neck towards her. "Can you possibly think they would oppose orders from the shinzoku themselves?" he muttered skeptically in a deep growl.

"We will never know if we don't make a stand and give them the chance," she stated resolutely. "Few of my tribe spoke up against the Supreme Elder's orders or decisions, not even the other elders; we followed both him and Flarelord blindly, thinking in our arrogance that we could do no wrong. This was the cause of many ills for both the Supreme Elder and us, but I never would have realized it if I had not met people who didn't take everything he said for granted. Don't you think the rest of our kind deserves the chance my people never got?" She stepped closer, and put a hand on the dragon's muscular leg, gazing up at him. "Standing on the sidelines will not solve anything, Milgazia-sama, even if all other choices look painful. Lina-san told me this once, and the more I saw, the better I understood how right she was."

The elder exhaled loudly, a wave of steam-like air escaping his mouth and nose. Its base melted by the hot current, the icicle lurched to the side and broke off his head.

"You still have much to see and learn, Filia… yet I can't help but feel ashamed by your words." He flapped his wings, ascending several feet from the mountaintop. "You are undoubtedly right about one thing: this is not my choice to make alone. As a Supreme Elder, it would be a grave wrong for me to follow the example of your predecessor." He turned around in the air, and glided towards the low-hanging clouds obscuring Dragon's Peak, the home of his people. "Our tribe will discuss this matter among ourselves," he said, turning his head back towards the priestess. "However we choose, that will be our final decision."

Moments later the majestic dragon disappeared among the clouds. Filia looked after him silently for a long while – then, once she was sure he was out of earshot, began sneezing like there was no tomorrow.

"Achooo! ACHOOO! Cold-cold-cold-cold…! Symbolic or not, I shouldn't have come here like this!" She hugged her shivery body, readying herself to transform into her rightful form as well to better cope with the weather.

Then she gave pause. "Wait, what… what did Milgazia-sama mean by the Supreme Elder being my predecessor…?"

Filia blushed so profusely that the freezing cold no longer stood a chance against her.

* * *

The citizens of Sairaag watching the storm instantly noticed something was amiss when they saw the smoke rising from the guild's highest tower amidst the subsiding rain. Such a thing never happened before; all they could think of was that it had to have been some kind of an accident. Their uneasiness grew further as they noticed even more pale gray puffs escaping through several windows and roofs – whatever occurred, they realized, must have been very serious.

Still, that tinge of distress was nothing compared to how they felt when they became aware that the smoke was not rising into the air in a natural manner. It seemed to congest into a dark mass above the building, gradually growing as big as the New Flagoon tree itself – and even more terrified they had become when the cloud began to mold into a revolting, remotely humanoid figure with long arms, eyes and teeth of brimstone and claws made of pure darkness.

By the time the horror let out a chilling yell, Sairaag was already on the brink of chaos.

"Listen well and tremble, mortals!" it exclaimed. "Your city now belongs to none other than the Supreme Being of Evil: the almighty Wyqixaould, master of…" it trailed off for a second, sounding almost embarrassed, "master of bureaucracy, paperwork and endless backlogs!" It extended its arms, long enough to reach through the entire city. "Should you nurture thoughts of resistance, know that your sorcerers have fallen! They foolishly attempted to make a stand against the Great One, but had so many forms to fill out beforehand that he crushed them with a single wave of his hand! They pitifully begged for mercy, and—" Strangely enough, it seemed as if an unseen force whacked the thing of nightmares on its head. "Ow. Anyway, if you value your lives, you better flee eastwards out of the city while you still can, as Wyqixaould's hellish army of doom is on the brink of invading your western border! Flee, or the mighty demon shall feast upon your souls! Mwahahahahaa!"

Needless to say, the residents did not need to be told twice; they grabbed what they could take with them and ran for their lives.

Meanwhile, hidden behind the obscuring smoke, several people stood on the roof of the guild headquarters' largest wing, along with a much smaller version of the terrible demon itself.

"Not bad, Mr. W," Lina addressed the grey mazoku. "I take back what I said about you earlier, you're much better than a circus clown… maybe you'd even make a fine boogieman." The demon did not seem to appreciate the praise for some reason. "All right, tell the people that they should take all the food and water they can carry with them, because you, uh, can't stand the smell of food or whatever, and then we can call an end to your big scene."

Wyqixaould looked at her with an uncharacteristically beseeching gaze.

"Can't the Great One really feast upon their souls first…? At least a little?"

The sorceress frowned. "We made a deal, remember? You can terrorize the townsfolk with your corny speeches, nothing less and nothing more! Once you're done with that, you better get back into the book if you know what's good for you!"

The mazoku's glowing hole of a mouth twisted into a pout. "The great Wyqixaould knows they are not worth feasting upon, anyway," it grumbled.

"Mar, the students can keep the boogieman's oversized illusion in the air after the real one exits the stage, right?" Lina turned to the aged sorcerer standing with her on the roof. "We need to make sure no one gets any second thoughts about leaving."

"Yes, Magistress." The chairman inclined his head readily, gesturing towards the high tower. A couple of young mages floated next to it, and also at several other points around the top of the building, holding large, yellow sapphires in their hands, where the 'smoke' actually originated from. "With the Illusion Gems they can keep the figment active for at least an hour, even if they can no longer copy the sounds or movements of the original."

"Good, I'm counting on you guys." The sorceress gave him a thumbs-up. "By that time, we should have one empty city on our hands, and after that—"

She interrupted her sentence, gazing towards the western forest line. A swarm of birds soared to the sky from the trees everywhere, visibly frightened by something. Lina muttered a curse.

_The mazoku are on the move... And even if we can't see them, the dragons are probably not far behind either!_

"Is something the matter, Magistress?" the chairman asked hesitantly, not noticing what she saw.

Refusing to answer, the sorceress looked over the guild structure again with a torn expression.

_We have a dozen relatively powerful mages from the council who were willing to help, not counting Mar, and around fifty students with very little experience. _She clenched her eyes shut._ No, that's not enough, far from it! If I ask them to hold off the attackers while the locals escape… I will be sending all of them to their deaths, no doubt._

"Magistress…?"

Her eyes fluttered open with determination._ That's not going to happen._

"It's nothing," she lied through her teeth, turning away. "I need to go check something. Once it looks like the city's clear, get the kids out of here as quickly as possible, okay?"

Before the old sorcerer could reply, Lina muttered a short incantation and disappeared in a flash of gold.

* * *

Most mortals possessed a deep-seated, natural fear of darkness. They could try to fight it, to ignore it, but the feeling was still there, the dread of the unseen and unheard lurking beyond the limits of their perception, their imagination filling this impenetrable realm with legions of fictional – and at times, real – monsters and forces. It was no coincidence that the Lighting spell belonged to the most ancient and widespread forms of magic: even the sorcerers, who delved in the arcane and the supernatural, many even acquiring sight beyond sight, could not escape the urge to bring light to their places of mystery. Aside from the issues of practicality, their work simply would have been too frightening otherwise.

As such, it was no surprise that the mazoku, who generally enjoyed instilling fear into the living, cherished the darkness and actively cultivated its ancient, primal legend – but even among the creatures of chaos, few beings were as fond of the lightless void as Greater Beast Zellas Metallium.

The heart of Wolf Pack Island never saw the light of the day. Amidst the foggy, barren terrain, a mile-wide pitch black dome sealed off a volume of space, distorting it by the whim of its ruler in such a way that the lack of sight extended both to the physical plane and to the demons' natural habitat of the astral side. Virtually no being, human, dragon or mazoku, could make its way out after entering, unless the mazoku lord wished it so; they could wander inside for an eternity, or, more likely, quickly fall prey to the many dangers waiting for them within the darkness. Indeed, the dome itself was part of the Beastmaster's being, its contents malleable by the mere thought of its creator – and as these thoughts flew by, so did the mazoku lord's realm change minute after minute.

At that moment, Zellas' thoughts centered on quiet, patient contemplation. Somewhere within the darkness, a silver-haired woman, her features both old and young, sat on a simple but gracefully curved lounge chair dressed in paper-thin layers of bluish white silk, and silently, leisurely smoked from an overly long, thin obsidian pipe. There was no light to illuminate her form, but as she willed it to be so, she was somehow still very much visible_._ It would not be right to say that the female figure was the Greater Beast, at least not more than anything around her; the human-like body was a mere matter of convenience, allowing her to do things she would not have been able to otherwise. Apparently, smoking must have been one of those.

The bit of the pipe moved towards her mouth, but never reached it; Zellas unhurriedly lowered her hand, her unblinking gaze gliding towards the spot nine feet ahead of her. Several seconds passed with the faint trace of smoke rising from the pipe chamber being the only source of movement all around, before the air trembled around the place occupying her attention, and Xelloss materialized from nowhere, down to one knee with his cloak – whole once more – touching the floor. He bowed his head towards her.

"I have returned, Juu-ou-sama," the priest said in a gentle, respectful voice. Zellas leaned slightly forward in her chair in an expression of puzzlement. Her servant's appearance was not what she was accustomed to; something was unusual about his posture, or perhaps something was missing…

"What happened to your staff?" she asked quizzically, her tone deep and distant, but still personable.

Xelloss raised his head slightly. "It… fell into a pool of lava, Mistress." His words sounded as if they would explain everything – which they did not.

"I… see." The mazoku lord raised an eyebrow at his answer, but did not push the matter any further. "Still, I trust the problem with Lina Inverse has been dealt with in a satisfactory manner?"

The priest did not reply immediately. Once the silence between them had obviously been stretched too long, he spoke with audible reluctance: "I'm afraid not, Zellas-sama. She is still very much alive."

The Beastmaster's eyebrow rose even higher. She reached to the side, resting her pipe on some unseen piece of furniture; it disappeared into the darkness the moment she let go.

"Explain." The word left her mouth in a neutral tone, but it still held the firmness of an order.

"I will attempt to." Xelloss nodded obediently, his open eyes cast down. "As for the battle itself, while Lina-san did manage to put up commendable resistance, I still would have gained the upper hand eventually, of that I am sure. However… in the end that proved to be of little significance."

He paused unwittingly, like the words he was about to say were shaming him. "It would appear, Mistress, that my… obsession of overcoming this human sorceress has, most disturbingly, reached the point where I would rather risk defying direct orders than let it go unfulfilled. Lina-san presented me with a situation which made real fulfillment impossible… and I lost all will to fight. I am, too, greatly appalled by this development. I have no excuse."

Zellas' fingers, which were drumming on the side of her chair while she heard her servant out, now tightened around the arm rest. "I see. So that is what happened," she said once more, this time her voice colder by several orders of magnitude. Her face was an expressionless mask, unreadable even to her closest subordinate. "Is there anything else you wish to say?"

"Y-Yes, of course, Juu-ou-sama, my apologies." His head snapping up hastily, the priest banished all traces of emotion from his voice. "I fully understand that my behavior is unprecedented, and entirely unacceptable. It is also likely that because of this unreliability, my continued existence would quickly put your goals in jeopardy."

While he was not given permission, Xelloss rose to his feet. "Therefore, I would humbly suggest that you return the portion of your power you made me from to yourself; then you will be able to create a new servant with similar abilities, if you so wish. I am sure you can salvage most of the knowledge I have gathered in the process." His gaze flicked to the side, and he smiled a meaningless, awkward smile for the first time since his appearance. "I fear I cannot offer much advice on how to prevent such an accident from happening to my replacement. I am unable to tell where I went wrong exactly… it is somewhat exasperating, to be honest."

By the time the priest glanced back, Zellas' chair was empty. It was impossible to notice her movement even by astral means: the entire place was filled with her presence, blocking out even the faintest clue.

"Xelloss, Xelloss…" An arm reached over his back, enveloping his form in a kind of a rigid embrace. The living darkness around them, previously only impenetrable, now became close to suffocating. "How long had you been my servant? For well over a thousand years, perhaps?" the mazoku lord's voice whispered into his ear.

"Yes, Mistress." Xelloss only stood there, unflinching; if he was nervous, he did not let it show. "I am beyond grateful for all the time I have been allotted in your service."

Zellas raised her other hand, and ran her fingers through his dark hair. "And even after such a long while, given all your admirable intellect," her whisper gave way to muffled laughter, "your rare moments of sheer stupidity still continue to amaze me."

She abruptly let go; a second later Xelloss' head lurched to the side as he was slapped across the back of his neck. The priest raised a hand to the reddened patch of illusory skin in utter confusion.

"You deserve worse," the Beastmaster berated him curtly as she made her way back to her chair. "I expected more from you: you should have at least _tried_ to talk your way out of your predicament, not straight up recommend your own demise! Such lamentable behavior is unlike you, not to mention unworthy of my closest subordinate."

"Forgive me, Mistress, I… figured it wouldn't do much good in a situation like this," Xelloss muttered the words blankly.

The mazoku lord shot him an impatient glance. "Then you were wrong. I have no intention of destroying a servant who is still ten times as useful as any other, not even counting the formidable power I have also bestowed upon him. There will be repercussions of course, but your punishment will be meted out in due time; I have more important things to take care of right now."

The priest still appeared to be entirely lost. "…A-Again I must ask for your forgiveness, Juu-ou-sama, but I don't understand the logic behind your sudden display of lenience," he insisted. "I have disobeyed your direct orders. If you turn a blind eye on this, what guarantee do you have that I will not openly betray you the next time?"

"If I let you, then I will only have myself to blame." Zellas gracefully sat down, smoothing the creases in her clothing with her hand. "Let us be clear about something, my priest: while this might have been the first occasion when you did so against your better judgment, without anything to justify your actions in front of me, this is clearly not the first time you have ignored my commands one way or the other. Or what else should I call your little 'creative interpretations' of late? For example, when your mission to close and destroy the gateway between the worlds _accidentally_ resulted in Dark Star's destruction?" She regarded her servant with a smirk. "You will stay alive, Xelloss – you better get used to that thought. And when the time comes that I _really_ want you to follow my orders to the letter, believe me that I will know just the way to make you obey."

Followed by her underling's incredulous look, Zellas extended her hand, and retrieved a fragile glass of red wine from another invisible fixture nearby.

"So, in the end even you failed to defeat Lina Inverse, although you knew her better than any of us…" She took a small sip of her drink, her smile widening in way not unlike her priest. "Excellent. Then it seems I have no choice; it is about time that I come to humanity's aid in its hour of grave need."

* * *

Jane struggled to make her way through the mass of terrified people crowding the streets, all headed in the opposite direction. It was hard to blame them for trying to get as far away from the smoke-demon towering over the Sorcerers' Guild as they could; but when the girl saw the mazoku during her fruitless search for Nilian and Lina in the outskirts of the city, she knew that it was exactly where she needed to go. Or, if she did not, a voice in her head made sure to remind her. Many-many times.

"I'm going, okay? I am unable to advance any faster than this," Jane muttered to no one in particular as she finally glimpsed the road leading towards the guild headquarters. Most of the residents have already fled from the nearby homes, giving her some well-needed room to break into a run towards the entrance. "…I meant unable until now! Give me a break!"

As she got closer, she noticed a large group of sorcerers – powerful ones, if their elaborate robes were any indication – gathered not far from the double doors leading inside. A few of them were shouting upwards into the air, as if they wanted to call someone from above. Indeed, as the girl got within earshot, she noticed an aged mage in steel-blue clothing descend from the direction of the smoke-covered roof, scowling at the magicians below.

"You have some nerve to show your face around here, after what happened in the assembly chamber," he growled as he landed in front of them.

"Don't make this more embarrassing than it already is, chairman," a sorcerer in white replied, attempting to retain some of his pride, but his quivering voice doomed his attempt to failure. "The chamber's scrying devices showed that the mazoku have already begun to surround us. There is no longer a chance to escape for any of us, even if we wanted to. So we came to help."

The news he brought set off a very angry tirade inside Jane's head.

"Yes, I am aware that we need to stop them!" the girl whispered, sounding annoyed. "Please, just a minute!"

"The mazoku are already attacking‽" The chairman's face paled. "By Zoamelgustar, so that is why the Magistress left! She's trying to stop them by herself… curse it all, I should have known!"

"The… the Demon Slayer has disappeared‽" the white-robed mage stuttered, his panic quickly spreading to his fellows. "Then… this is it! We're all _dead_! Only a miracle from the gods could save us now, it is—"

"Oh, shut your mouth already‼" Surprised and more than a little insulted, the sorcerers collectively turned their heads toward the girl hiding under an upturned wagon a couple of yards away. Their surprise grew further when they noticed that she was not shouting at them, but at a puddle of rainwater in front of her. "No! For the last time, I'm not telling them that I am the Knight of Ceiphied! I told you that I'm not going to…" She trailed off, noticing all the wide-eyed gazes upon her. "Uh-oh… err… You did this on purpose, right?"

Jaze smiled sheepishly at the group of some of the world's greatest spellcasters and tried to think up a viable excuse to quench their interest.

She failed.

* * *

"You wish to ally yourself with the humans, Juu-ou-sama?" Xelloss stared at his creator, more confused than ever before.

Sitting at ease in her chair, Zellas looked greatly amused by his incomprehension. "Why is that surprising? I think anything else is preferable to our current 'alliance' with the shinzoku. You warned me of the dangers of that deal yourself a little while ago."Her brows furrowed in a slightly more serious manner. "Both of us know that Dynast is using nothing more than a blatant lie to keep Dolphin and I in check. We will get to the bottom of his claims shortly, and then this farce will be over before it really begun. Besides," she shrugged, seemingly without a care in the world, "after what happened between you and that human, I do not think I need to have any fear of ending up on the losing side."

"So you were prepared for this outcome when you gave me my orders." Though he tried to hide it, the priest sounded clearly affronted.

"Oh, not at all, my dear Xelloss. I was _expecting_ such an outcome." Her servant's ruffled pride only made the mazoku lord even livelier. "It was the test of a theory I have – and the events took place mostly the way I thought they would. In fact, I am now sure that should I have gone to confront Lina Inverse in person, I would not have fared any better either."

The Greater Beast hid her face in her palm with a snicker.

"Goodness gracious, my priest, get a hold of yourself! If any dragon could see your expression right now, your reputation would be ruined for centuries!" She took another sip of her wine, her fingers dancing around the glass surface. "I am beyond tired of all the pitiful excuses I hear even in the highest circles, that Lina Inverse only has insane luck, or that her innumerable triumphs were only because of favorable circumstances. Pointless rubbish. It is time to face the facts: anyone who opposes that human may count themselves lucky if they survive." She stopped to confirm with unabashed satisfaction that Xelloss now appeared even more scandalized than before. "How is such insanity possible, you may ask? Since she is still but a mortal, of course, there is only one explanation to this paradox: someone or something is intervening on her behalf, and makes her succeed beyond her natural limits. It may be the Golden Lord herself for some capricious reason, or perhaps Flarelord's ravings about the shard might actually have some truth in them – I don't know, and it matters little. What is important is that Lina Inverse is apparently destined, or cursed, if you so prefer, to win no matter the odds, and I do intend to take full advantage of this fact."

Zellas leaned back comfortably in her chair, looking quite pleased with herself. Her good mood proved to be short-lived, however, as her subordinate's strictly reserved voice put a frown back on her face.

"Mistress, may I speak freely?"

"You _always_ speak freely, Xelloss." The Greater Beast rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

The priest's gaze gleamed with previously unseen intensity. "Forgive my rudeness," he bowed, his tone still respectful, while near vitriolic at the same time, "but your theory about Lina-san sounds no less of an excuse to me than all the others."

Defying all laws of nature, the temperature around Wolf Pack Island dropped several degrees in less than a second. The mazoku lord's eyes narrowed at her servant, but she made a point of finishing her wine before taking the time to reply, as if his words were not bothering her in the least.

"Unlike a certain subordinate of mine, _I_ at least have one." She tossed the empty glass away, out of sight; there was no sound indicating that it ever hit the ground. "Be careful, Xelloss. You are of great use and value to me, and thus I am willing to overlook your recent failure – but nonetheless, this incident has brought to light a serious weakness within you." Her mouth twisted into a feral grin. "I really wouldn't want anyone to take advantage of it except me. So watch your words and deeds even more from now on."

Xelloss descended back unto one knee. "As you command, Juu-ou-sama. I will."

"Will you?" Zellas eyed her greatest creation with a look distantly resembling concern. "I do hope so, my priest, because something tells me whatever odd connection existed between you and this Lina Inverse, today's events were not the end of it." Along with her chair, the Beastmaster's form began to fade into the darkness as she lowered her voice to a troubled murmur. "I'm not Vrabazard, I do not claim to see into the future – yet I cannot help but feel that your bond will only grow much stronger still."

* * *

The small farming district at the western edge of the city was already entirely abandoned. The streets and the gardens around the diminutive houses were empty, the doors left wide open, tools and goods thrown away – even the animals felt the rising panic and escaped. Just as before, Sairaag was on its way to become the City of Ghosts for the third time in a matter of minutes.

A small whistling sound cut into the silence, and Lina appeared in the air after a yellow flash, falling head-first into a bed of irises. Coughing, she lay on her back among the flowers and waited for the wave of nauseating exhaustion to subside.

_Ugh… I really shouldn't be casting experimental spells like that in such a condition,_ she thought as she slowly managed to climb to her feet. Thankfully, a few grains of her strength returned after a couple of moments, letting her walk out of the town in a relatively brisk pace. There was a good half mile of distance between the Miasma Forest and the last buildings of Sairaag; the open field looked boring and empty, as if nothing of interest was to happen around it anytime soon.

As she left the last couple of parcels behind her, Lina lingered by the side of the road, near a horse-sized stone pedestal. A stream of crystal clear water poured from copper pipes emerging from the middle of each of the four sides. The water was likely conjured by magic; it disappeared into thin air before it touched the ground, but was nonetheless a wonderful boon to any weary traveler who reached Sairaag after a lengthy journey. The statue of a priestess with long, straight hair and a warm smile stood on top of the pedestal, facing the forest to welcome any new arrivals entering the city.

Lina tasted the water and regarded the statue with a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sylphiel," she muttered, "I don't think I can save your town from getting blown up again. But I _will_ get the people to safety this time. I promise."

She turned around and continued on the road towards the forest.

_That said, this might easily be one of the craziest things I have ever dared to pull._

The sorceress stopped again once she was halfway between the trees and the city. After glancing around to make sure there was not a single living being nearby, she shouted towards the Miasma Forest at the top of her lungs:

"Hey, mazoku, I know you can hear me! I'm the one you want the most, right? Well, there's no point in trying to surround the city; I'm right here! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

For several seconds, nothing happened; Lina stood alone in the middle of the field below the storm clouds, with only the wind whispering into her ear.

In the next moment, she was surrounded.

Like a dark fog that has set in, the field was swarming with mazoku of all kinds, from the lowliest deformed lesser demons to the powerful middle-ranking ones with a human-like appearance. Only a fifteen foot wide circle around the sorceress was left empty. There had to have been no less than a thousand; each and every one of them had their eyes on Lina, scowling, growling or even smirking gleefully at her predicament, all too eager to attack her, but still holding back for some reason. She heard a noise from above: a group of more than a dozen golden dragons circled around her in the air, blocking out much of the light which got through the dark clouds. They regarded her with similar looks of suspicion; although, while she could not say for sure, some of those glances felt more reluctant than others.

"I am Vilnius, from the tribe of Airlord Valwin," one of the dragons spoke as he slowed down to hover in the air in front of her. "Demon Slayer, know that it pains us greatly to meet you at such a terrible hour. We respect your exploits in defending the world; but in this cruel twist of fate, in order to fulfill our oath and protect existence, we have no choice but to—"

"Did I allow you to talk, Vilnius-san?" A young woman stepped forward from the crowd of mazoku. Her clothes and hat looked like a strange hybrid of a crab and a fish, her hands invisible under her very long cloak adorned by what seemed to be sea shells. Her long hair was curled into two large 'buns' next to her ears – her entire appearance would have looked incredibly silly, if it were not for the unnaturally imposing aura that surrounded her. "Heh, I don't remember doing so." She grinned lightly at the dragon. "Please keep in mind that I have been entrusted with leadership over both the mazoku and you, so try not to act without my permission, okay? Thanks in advance!"

Lina kept her eyes on the woman as Vilnius withdrew to the rest of his kind with a furious, if suppressed sneer.

_Huraker, Deep Sea Dolphin's priest. It seems she's the one running the show here._

"Ah, and here we have the famous Lina Inverse." The mazoku faced her with a smug look; the swirling shadows cast by the ryuzoku above danced eerily on her features as she spoke in a disturbingly sweet voice. "I really expected better, you know? Of course, that's a human for you: once she finds herself alone, with all her 'friends' either gone or turned against her, out of desperation she clings to the hope that with some foolish self-sacrifice she can at least end her life in a meaningful way." She cocked her head to the side. "Still, I must admit I feel terribly disappointed regardless; that's not the style the legendary mage is known for at all. Well, so passes the glory of the world, as the saying goes."

Bits of gloating laughter sounded from the demon ranks around the sorceress, their circle around her shrinking slightly. The voices were filled with hatred, glee and the lust to kill – all directed at Lina.

She showed no reaction to any of it at all. _Sorry people. I've heard these lines from someone already, and you're not even half as good at it as he is. _She took a decisive step towards Huraker. _Here goes…_

"You look seriously misinformed, crab-girl." Lina threw a smirk at Dolphin's priest. "I haven't come here to die. I've come to kick your nether regions to the other end of the continent – it's about time I taught my servants some proper discipline."

The demonic army fell oddly silent.

"Hahaha… did you say servants, human? _Your_ servants?" Huraker also seemed to have taken notice of the sudden shift, but did not let it interfere with her lighthearted, cheerful demeanor. "Such a claim would warrant instant death, but since you are going to die regardless, I'll play along with the joke. What could you possibly mean by that? Has the pressure upon you driven you insane?"

The sorceress shook her head in a patronizing manner. "Miss Sea Monster, you have no more of a brain than you have fashion sense, but you ought to learn due respect at least. This is no joke. I was entirely serious." Stomping her foot angrily, she yelled at the crowd of demons. "You know of Flarelord's prophecy, don't you, worms? Then hear this: I am no longer the human named Lina Inverse‼"

A red aura of light sprang to life around her, wrapping her surroundings in a crimson glow. The dragons all withdrew higher into the air in alarm.

"Once I learned of the truth, when I realized that the entire world was out to get me, I chose to embrace the darkness within my soul, and I… no, _we_ have now become Ruby Eye Shabranigdu, the Destroyer of All! We've returned to take back what is ours, the leadership over the mazoku race – and you'll either swear your loyalty to us, or will be among the first we'll send back into the chaotic nothingness this world had once arisen from!"

The mazoku horde fidgeted nervously as confusion reared its head within their ranks, their previous lust for battle evaporating.

"Lies!" Huraker exclaimed. She was no longer smiling. "You cannot be him! Your astral form is still that of a human… we should be able to feel Ruby Eye-sama's presence within you! I never did – and I still don't!"

"And neither did any of the mazoku Lina Inverse had met in the past century." The sorceress gave a ridiculing nod. "But didn't it ever occur to you that the Demon Lord was doing that on purpose? Since when could a pathetic amateur like you comprehend or question His plans, anyway? The prophecy is clear, isn't it?" Her ruby eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or do you dare to claim that you don't believe what Flarelord's vision says about his glorious awakening‽"

The priest of Deep Sea Dolphin staggered back, her composure broken. "No... I mean, _yes_! I mean… I believe that the prophecy is true, but… err…"

"Then bow before your creator, servant!" Lina commanded, the crimson aura around her doubling in size and intensity. "To your knees, all of you! Join us, and we will lead you upon a quest for destruction greater than the world could have ever imagined – or tarry a minute longer, and face the consequences!"

A wave of fear swept through the field. While most of the mazoku still looked confused about what was happening, a good number of them moved to descend to their knees.

"Stop‼ Don't be fooled by her, you disgraceful simpletons!" Huraker shrieked, losing her cool entirely. "If you move another inch, I am going to end your miserable existence with my own hands! Come to your senses‼"

"Oh, we have come to our senses, indeed. How infuriating it is that we are already too late!" Vilnius growled at her as he drew closer in the air, his nostrils flaring in anger. "I now see what your plans were, demon: your race used our truce to buy time, and the destruction of humankind to hasten Ruby Eye's resurrection compared to what the prophecy foretold! As we suspected, the gods have erred when they joined forces with you; but even in the face of certain death, we will not give up our lives without a fight!"

"W…What?" Huraker mumbled as she saw the ryuzoku assume formation behind their leader, preparing for a suicide attack against the most important target they believed they could deal real damage to: her. "No! This completely defies all logic!" the powerful mazoku managed an agonized shout as her former allies dove at her with lightning speed. "This… this cannot be happening‼"

A painful scream stopped the dragons dead in their tracks.

Her aura gone, Lina staggered to remain on her feet, her hands clutching the deep cut inflicted to her right side which was already bleeding heavily.

_Aaah… what… who was this‽ _The sorceress' eyes, tearing up from the overwhelming pain, darted frantically around the crowd. Realizing the truth, Huraker, along with the dragons and demons under her command now regarded her with a look of murderous hatred – but otherwise they seemed to be just as surprised by the sudden event as she was.

"The entire army was fooled by a few ridiculous claims and a modified Lighting spell? Don't you feel ashamed?" A teen-aged-looking girl wandered into her sphere of vision, holding a dark, bloodied rapier in her hand. "I'm glad Dynast-sama allowed me to come back here," she said, turning around to face her. "Lina Inverse, you may have managed to mislead the others by hiding your emotions from us… but you cannot hide your thoughts from _me_. Your trick has failed."

_She could read… my thoughts…‽_

Lina gazed at the girl's familiar features, clothing and braided hair – and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place in her mind.

"Sherra… don't tell me you found your name?" She forced the words out between painful, ragged gasps for breath. "If I knew it was you… I'd have told you to give up on it… The 'Nameless One' at least had some mystery to it, you know."

The general scowled. "You can insult me all you want, but it's all over," she asserted coldly. "Thanks to your memories, I've learned that Sairaag has no magical defenses whatsoever, so we will simply run down the city right away. All the humans within will die – not only have you accomplished nothing, you've only made things _worse._"

Her hand rose, and the sorceress could feel the cold, sharp edge of the blade touching her neck.

_I can't… move… DAMN‼ _

Her blurring vision showed the general's mouth twisting into a jubilant smile. "I've finally had my revenge. You are finished, Lina Inverse."

The rapier moved back from her neck to strike…

"I beg to differ."

A six-foot tall cone of darkness struck the ground between Sherra and her, shoving the mazoku general away. Several nearby demons shuddered as the dark mass twisted and turned in the air, quickly assuming a human-like shape Lina knew all too well.

"Xelloss…" she whispered. "But how…?"

His cloak, bag and clothing were entirely the same – but his staff, which he held horizontally in both hands, looked vastly different. It appeared to be made from a long, entirely straight branch of black wood, carefully polished to give a much more refined impression than before. The red gem at the top remained, but was now held in an elaborately styled brass casing.

"My, if it isn't Sherra-san! What an unexpected surprise to see you again." Xelloss beamed at the general. "Unfortunately, I must inform you that I would only allow a few select people to end Lina-san's life, and you are certainly not one of them. Rest assured that I can sympathize with your frustration."

Looking desperate to catch up with recent events, Huraker hurried closer to stand next to Sherra. "What is the meaning of this‽" She looked from the priest to the general questioningly.

"He has betrayed us," Sherra stated in a dark voice, which did little to ease the confusion.

"Now-now, there is no need to use such drastic words," Xelloss wiggled his finger in front of them. "I am merely following orders, as we all are. They only happen to be in conflict at this time."

That was just about what Dolphin's priest could take for the day. "That's enough!" she snapped. "I don't know what Sherra is doing here alive and I don't know what you are up to, Xelloss, but I've been given precise instructions to kill Lina Inverse and destroy this town. Stop interfering!"

"And what if I don't…?" The other priest raised an impertinent eyebrow. "Would you mind explaining the alternative, Huraker-san? I would love to hear it, especially since if memory serves I am more powerful than the two of you combined, am I not?"

"While you have to protect that critically injured human alone?" Sherra spat, her grip tightening on her sword. "I don't think so."

Lina wanted to scream the mazoku general's head off for treating her like nothing more than a distraction, but her buckling knees sapped all her remaining strength. She had to admit that the demon was right: unable to even talk anymore, she was reduced to a mere spectator to the events around her – there were few things in the world the sorceress despised more than this.

There was, however, someone else there to respond in her stead.

"They are not alone."

Lina forced her head back, and found another familiar figure clothed entirely in white standing behind her.

_Milgazia...? Or am I seeing things now?_

The sight was very much real; while the elder dragon spoke, dozens of similarly dressed men and women appeared around them, forcing the horde of mazoku to recoil. The sorceress felt a hand touching her side.

"Let go of your wound, Lina-san, I will heal you in a bit." Filia knelt next to her, carefully prying her arms off the injury, before bathing it in a pristine white glow.

"I have heard admirable things about you, Vilnius." Ignoring the mazoku, Milgazia focused his attention on the group of golden dragons. "They say you may very well become the new elder of your tribe in a few hundred years; considering this, it is sad to see you in such questionable company. All of you should know better than this."

"It is not a company of our choosing," the other dragon growled. "What about you, Supreme Elder? Have you decided to betray your duty and go against the orders of the gods who you should serve?"

"I have decided nothing, and we have betrayed nothing," Milgazia stated resolutely. "On the contrary, we have realized that despite our beliefs of independence, we still have the obligation to carry the cause of our late mistress, Aqualord Ragradia. She always regarded the humans fondly, and the crime you wish to carry out would have never met her blessing, regardless of what the other shinzoku may say. We mean you no harm – but we will protect the humans in Aqualord's name, if you force us to."

"Even if that goal also involves joining a mazoku?" Vilnius snorted, his head pointing towards Xelloss.

The dragon elder threw a sidelong glance at the priest. "That… is nothing but an unfortunate coincidence," he spoke in a deadpan voice.

Xelloss merely grinned. "How truly unkind."

"Both you and Lina Inverse underestimate me, dragon," Huraker cut into the exchange. "I've ordered most of my underlings here, that is true, but a smaller number of them are already attacking your precious humans from the sides. The only thing your heroic meddling will accomplish is getting you killed; both the city and you are sur—"

"You're surrounded‼ Give up while you are still able, mazoku!" Lina heard Jane's voice from the direction of the town.

Dolphin's priest tore her hat off her head, flung it to the ground, and proceeded to trample on it repeatedly. "I'm _fed up_ with these sudden appearances‼ Why can't I finish a _single sentence_‽"

The claim was nonetheless true: from behind the forest trees and Sairaag's last buildings numerous sorcerers stormed out, assuming a circle around the mazoku. Jane stood next to Sylphiel's statue on the stone pedestal by the road, and directed the movements of the spellcasters from there.

"That's it, gather around them quickly! We already vanquished those sneaky ones trying to enter the city, these out here will be child's play! Come on, hurry up!"

"Yes, Jane-sama!" a sorcerer shouted as he ran past her.

Lina's eyebrow twitched. _Jane-sama‽_

"Did you hear that? They do everything I tell them!" the girl whispered to herself, her voice trembling with excitement – only to deflate rather spectacularly a moment later. "Yeah, it's only because they think I'm the Knight of Ceiphied… That wasn't _my_ idea, you know…"

While more than a little angry, Huraker did not look particularly frightened by the sorcerers. At her signal, the mazoku stood their ground, not letting themselves be pushed any further either by the humans from the outside, or the ryuzoku from the inside.

"Listen to me, Sherra, it's time to end this accursed joke," she spoke without looking at the general, her furious eyes kept on Xelloss instead. "My army will take care of these human pests. Vilnius and his dragons will deal with their own, while you and I will keep Xelloss at bay until we can find an opening to kill Lina Inverse. Understood?"

There was no need to wait for an answer. Bloodlust and surging arcane energies blanketed the field, foretelling a terrible, bloody clash of the opposing sides at a moment's notice. Threatening roars sounded from the mazoku horde as Milgazia's dragons formed a circle around Lina to protect her; fragments of energy from the entire color spectrum appeared in the sorcerers' hands, ready to be unleashed. The atmosphere was tense beyond belief; the smallest movement, the tiniest spark was all that was needed to ignite it.

A deep, laid-back voice cut through it all. "That's a great plan, Huraker dear. But who is going to deal with me?"

"What are you talking about‽" Dolphin's priest snapped her head back. "And who are you calling 'dear', you idiot— uh, you i… i… Z… Z-Zellas-sama!"

The Greater Beast stood between the completely terrified general and priest, her arms resting on their shoulders like she was there with them from the beginning. Her long silver hair and silky clothing was ruffled gently by the wind, carrying the faint smoke that oozed from the pipe in her hand.

"That's right," she purred, her grin showing unnaturally white teeth. "Here is a free piece of advice, my dears: I know you are all itching for a fight, but I think you should really retreat right now. I would hate to slaughter fellow mazoku needlessly – it's such a waste of resources."

"But… Did y-you…‽"

"Yes, I did." The mazoku lord leaned closer to the trembling Huraker's face. "And you can tell Dolphin that once she gets tired of dancing to Dynast's little tune, she is free to follow my example. You, on the other hand," she turned coldly to Sherra, "will let your master know that he should reconsider his plans, because his lies will not protect him for long."

Her gaze swept through the mazoku army, petrified entirely by fear. "Have I made myself clear? Good, then be gone from here, all of you," a pulse of darkness emanated from Zellas' smiling form, "before I get cranky."

What followed was the biggest, fastest mass-retreat to the Astral Plane Lina had ever seen. Perhaps a better phrase to describe it would be that the mazoku were crazily running for their lives – not even Xelloss was able to frighten them so much before. Vilnius' dragons lingered for a few more seconds, their leader eyeing Milgazia with an unreadable expression, but then they also disappeared in a flash of light.

The sorceress could hardly believe it: the swarm of demons and ryuzoku departed as abruptly as it appeared – but left another sizable group of humans, dragons and mazoku on the opposing side. She forcibly shook her head a few times; although the mind-wrenching pain was no more, she still fought to drive a certain feeling of dizziness away.

Filia touched her shoulder with a look of concern. "Are you all right, Lina-san?"

"I'm… fine, thanks," she murmured, smiling at the priestess. "I'm just tired, and… well, this was not something you see every day."

"This was only the beginning," Milgazia commented in his usual tone, making it impossible to determine whether he was gravely serious, cheerful, listless or all of those at once. "There are great difficulties ahead of us. I cannot promise you much, except for one thing: your kind will not have to face them alone."

Even in her best shape, the sorceress was not the one to give elaborate speeches – so she merely faced the assembled ryuzoku with a grateful look. "Thank you all. We really owe you one."

"Don't thank us." The elder dragon smiled wryly. "Thank the leader and sole representative of the servants of Flarelord Vrabazard. Without her, we would not be here right now."

_Leader and sole… err, what?_

"Milgazia-sama, could we just drop the subject?" Filia nervously fiddled with her cloak. "I am not even part of the order any longer, you know…"

"Hey, what about us?" Jane pushed through the crowd of dragons with a wide grin, followed by the aged but similarly lively Markus Zoana Auth Navratilova. "Did you see what we accomplished, Miss Lina?"

The sorceress waved to them tiredly. "Yeah, you guys were awesome too. Sorry for disappearing on you like that, Mar… and thanks for showing up in the end."

"Magistress, you will not believe our luck," the chairman explained eagerly. "This girl, the one who led us against the mazoku, is none other than the—"

"Sssh!" Jane's hiss sounded desperate, leaving the old mage perplexed.

"But… why couldn't we—"

"SSSSH! Please!"

In any other occasion, Lina would have stopped at nothing to force the truth out of them, but the odd exchange barely reached her ears; not only due to her exhaustion, but also because all her remaining attention became focused on a sensation which sent a chill down her spine: the edge of a cloak, made from an unmistakable, unnaturally light fabric brushed against the back of her arm.

"My, what an odd day indeed. I'm sure you agree that our gathering here feels really awkward, to say the least." Xelloss joined the conversation from behind the sorceress, much to the dismay of the dragons around them. "I certainly didn't think that we would meet again, but since this is nonetheless the case, I suggest we put our differences aside and try to make the most of it. I'm happy to report that my Mistress has decided to offer you her full support in this matter." While it sounded like he was addressing all present, Lina felt that his words were meant for her more than anyone else. "Perhaps not all went the way it should have today… but in the end, all's well that ends well, right?"

The sorceress said nothing. Her head lowered, she stared at the ground for long moments, her body stiff with surging emotion – then she spared no more than a single, withering look at the priest, turned around and headed for the city.

"Lina-san…?" Xelloss' voice called after her. She did not even slow down.

"Come on, people, we still need to make sure that Sairaag is cleared out before nightfall. If these two mazoku want something from us," she added with apparent disgust, "they will have to wait for it until tomorrow."

The humans and ryuzoku followed her lead hesitantly, eager to leave the demons behind, but understandably nervous about simply showing their backs to them and walking off.

"Are you certain it's wise to embarrass them like this?" Milgazia whispered with concern, leaning closer to her as he caught up. "Lina, these are far from ordinary mazoku. That one next to Xelloss who drove Huraker away is—"

"I know who she is," the sorceress interrupted in a stern voice. "But if she came here, she must need us badly enough to bear to wait for a while. If you want to chat with them, be my guest, but as for me," the old dragon saw her clenched fists tremble, "I'm done with their kind for today."

No more complaints were voiced, and master and servant soon found themselves alone in the middle of the large field.

Zellas watched the departing group with an expression of puzzlement bordering on contempt, chewing on the end of her pipe in annoyance. As her displeasure grew, so did the miniscule shadows cast by the surrounding weeds and wildflowers: they stretched frighteningly long and wide, wrapping the entire area in darkness.

"Charming, isn't she?" she muttered sarcastically, checking the nails on her free hand with a frown. "And here I was, thinking that after saving her beloved Sairaag, Lina Inverse might be willing to display at least an ounce of gratitude. What has gotten into that human?"

Xelloss smiled nervously, although the smile seemed to be more of a notion towards courtesy than anything else. "She clearly holds something of a grudge against us, Mistress. After what happened, I can't say that it surprises me." He gestured towards the forest, where the column of smoke could still be seen rising from the direction of the Black Dragon Inn. "Especially since now she has every reason to believe that our previous fight to the nigh end was nothing but a ruse to gauge her abilities, to see whether she is worthy of your support – which, all things considered, is pretty much the truth." He shrugged simply, like the topic was of no concern to him. "I recommend looking at the bright side: your suspicion proved to be false. Lina-san and I will not be on civil terms with each other for a long while – perhaps indefinitely. That's a good thing, is it not, Juu-ou-sama?"

The mazoku lord did not give an immediate answer, and the priest did not wait for her come up with one; he gave his own opinion on the matter by disappearing without another word.

Her servant's unusual irreverence did not escape Zellas' notice; letting her hands fall to the side, the Greater Beast drew an exasperated breath. "Humans," she drawled. "They can be so unreasonable at times... And what is even worse, they are not alone."

The Beastmaster took one final glance at Sairaag, before her form melded into the overreaching shadows. None remained but the howling wind: it blew ever stronger, gradually reclaiming the City of Ghosts from the living as its sole possession.

* * *

_The central character in the legend of the Cliff of Remembrance, the knight Arteus, was widely regarded as a tragic figure. With his beloved gone, he roamed the land seeking his own demise, but could not find it until he completed the long, grueling quest the gods have set forth for him – and even then, peace would only come to him in death. _

_Only few were aware of the fact that the legend also had another, vastly different ending._

_"Uh… I sure hope they did not plan on coming back," Lina scratched her cheek nervously, her back propped against a blackened brick wall._

_"You mean the villagers?" Xelloss asked, sitting next to her with newly restored arm and legs, his staff thrown to the ground in front of him. "I don't think so. The settlement was abandoned after a long period of famine two decades ago; no one comes near it these days, except those en route to the mountain."_

_The sorceress regarded the ruins of Morfir around them; thanks to the priest's flames and her barrage of magic, there no longer remained much to look at. "Well, that's a relief. I don't know how many towns' destruction is blamed on me already, but I don't like the idea that another had to be added to the list just to make me come to myself." _

_"That's surprisingly responsible of you," the priest remarked good-naturedly._

_"Yeah, can you believe it?" She managed a small smile for the first time in a long while. "Maybe I'm really getting old, after all."_

_Lina leaned her head back to gaze at the clear sky. As if she awoke from a long, unpleasant dream, she felt she could perceive the world around her with so much more clarity, noticing many small but pleasant things she never paid any attention to in the past years: the comfortably warm breeze against her skin, the fresh smell of the surrounding forest, the noises of the wild all around her. Everything felt new and beautiful; part of her wished that a serene moment like this would last forever._

_"So, what are your plans for the future, Lina-san?" _

_Her smile still in place, the sorceress slapped her forehead with a groan. It was so typical of him, she thought; leave it to one of the top agents of chaos not to let any single moment go unchanged for long._

_"Nothing much." She shrugged. "I think I'll just keep traveling like before – except now I will pay attention to where I'm actually going, if you know what I mean. It's nothing too complicated, but I'd be shocked if something does not come up eventually."_

_Xelloss nodded cheerfully. "A sound plan, no doubt." He followed Lina's glance towards the heavens to take a small pause before continuing, "Would you mind some company?"_

_She did not fully understand at first. "You always come and go as you please, whether I like it or not. What's the point in asking for my permission?" _

_"Let me put it this way: I would come, but I would not go for a while," the priest explained in a casual tone. "I don't have any urgent tasks to perform right now, and following you around always proved to be an entertaining pastime… And since both of us have little in the way of companionship at the moment, the whole keeping-our-distance approach would feel incredibly silly, no?"_

_"More like creepy, I'd say," the sorceress replied, if only half-seriously. "If you plan on shadowing me either way, I would rather know where you are watching me from. You're in."_

_"Excellent!" Xelloss beamed, punching a fist into the air in celebration. "Don't you think we should come up with our very own team song? I was thinking of something lighthearted with only the faintest sense of doom, topped by some hodgepodge lyrics such as 'let's continue walking under the same sun, shalalala—"_

_"Don't make me hit you." Lina grumbled, looking very disturbed for some reason. Once she made sure that the priest would not break out into a song right then and there, her eyes fell towards the horizon hidden behind the ruins and the trees. "What the heck, is it dawning already? Everything was so dark a minute ago."_

_Xelloss surveyed the faint flush of pink coloring the sky above the forest line. "Ah yes," he said in a lower voice. "As humans like to say: the darkest hour is just before dawn."_

_The sorceress fell silent; his words, intentionally or not, struck a chord within her. _

_"The darkest hour, huh?" she whispered. "That wouldn't be bad. Not bad at all." _

_The chirp of a bird could be heard from afar, also welcoming the approach of the new day._

_Lina pulled her legs underneath her and swiftly rose to her feet. By the time she straightened, something changed about her: she held herself proudly, her form was filled with restless energy while her eyes took on a shrewd glint. Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the legendary sorceress had finally returned._

_"Okay, enough of sitting around. Let's be on our way, companion of mine!" With a wink, she pointed a finger at the priest. "First rule of traveling with Lina Inverse: you always go where she tells you to!"_

_"Really? And what place would that be?" Xelloss looked at her from the ground, surprised by her sudden shift in mood._

_"What else? Straight ahead!" she asserted, grabbing the mazoku by his sleeve and yanking him to his feet. "By the time the Sun appears above the hills, I want to be out of this forest, looking it in the eye!" She broke into a run through the demolished village. "Let's go! You better not fall behind!" _

_Only few were aware of the fact that the legend of the Cliff of Remembrance also had another, vastly different ending: a variant where Arteus was made to realize that although his own world had seemingly ended, the world around him did not. To attain peace, he needed nothing else but to find something new in the vast remaining universe to care for. _

_And if this version of the legend could be trusted, the hero still walks the Earth to this day._

_To be continued…_

-o-

**Author's Notes: **

In case you were wondering, Priest Huraker, along with her general counterpart Riksfalto, appeared in the Slayers manga called "The Knight of Aqualord". They were also promptly killed off, being the main villains there, but since the manga cannot be inserted into the anime timeline, Lina in this fic knows them from a different adventure that took place sometime in the last hundred years.

Sherra, one of Dynast's generals, is a character from the novels; what we were shown as memories of the Nameless One in the previous part were events from the second story arc. The more detailed one where Lina drives her away by making fun of her name is from the 9th novel, which is available as a fan translation on the net. Although the fic takes place in the anime timeline, I am assuming that most events from the second novel arc did happen there at some point.

I must thank **Kiadi** once more for her awesome beta reading, and, of course, thank _you_ for reading this much belated fifth chapter! May we meet again next time!


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